


something new

by forpuckssake



Series: ice queen [7]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Dumb Hockey Boys, F/M, Gen, Poor Life Choices, Rookie Year, dare i say there is romance??, girl power chaos squad is back and better than ever, i blame julorean for this tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2020-06-02 12:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19441336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forpuckssake/pseuds/forpuckssake
Summary: Being a rookie in the NHL is a bit different than the AHL. Elle tries to figure her shit out along the way.---Theo looked far too alert for how early in the morning it was. “There was a trade,” he said, his eyes wide.Elle felt instantly awake as she snatched his phone out of his hand. “How bad?” she demanded.“Bad?” Theo snorted. “Babe, this is good for you.”Trade Alert: Nikolai Nikitin of the Flyers traded to Winnipeg“Holy shit,” Elle breathed. “For a second and third round pick. Not another goalie?”“No,” Theo said, and he sounded gleeful. “That means you have a chance of being the Flyers’ backup this year.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i want everyone to know that this is Julorean's fault because she asked for more Gavin and Elle's rookie year kind of just happened right along with it and now i have too many words to just put in the outtake/snippet dump that i have aaaaand now we're here and who knows how long this will be cuz it definitely isnt me so stay tuned for more chapters of this monster
> 
> i had a bit in here about kurtis gabriel that i had to edit last minute because apparently he's a flyer now?? what is this trade season anyway??
> 
> also this title is 100% from high school musical. do with that information what you will.

Elle wished she could say she was rarely woken up by her roommate, but that would be a lie.

He thought it was for her own good, of course. Theo only woke her up when she pressed snooze on her alarm one too many times, or slept through it entirely, or when he was forcing her to get up for an early morning run or workout.

In late July of 2027, Theo added another reason to the list of Acceptable Reasons to Wake Elle Up.

It was Sunday morning, the only morning Elle was really able to sleep in because they didn’t run or workout in the mornings on Sundays. In fact, Elle like to think of it as a rest day.

Theo had better have a good reason to be pounding on her door before nine.

She threw open her bedroom door, squinting blearily. “Where’s the fire?” she demanded hoarsely.

Theo looked far too alert for how early in the morning it was. “There was a trade,” he said, his eyes wide.

Elle felt instantly awake as she snatched his phone out of his hand. “How bad?” she demanded.

“Bad?” Theo snorted. “Babe _, this is good for you_.”

**Trade Alert: Nikolai Nikitin of the Flyers traded to Winnipeg**

“Holy shit,” Elle breathed. “For a second and third round pick. Not another goalie?”

“No,” Theo said, and he sounded gleeful. “That means you have a chance of being the Flyers’ backup this year.”

“Holy shit,” Elle said again.

* * *

When training camp came around, Aaron was the first to come up to her with a big smile and loud congratulations, hugging her so tightly her ribs creaked.

“Lydia told me she finally has an excuse to come to a home opener,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Of course she won’t come for her own boyfriend, but she’ll come to see _you_.”

“Lydia has her priorities straight,” Carter Hart chirped, ruffling Elle’s hair as he passed her by. It didn’t matter that she was twenty-two years old and far from the youngest on the team; she was his goalie child, according to his contact name for her in his phone, and he was very fond of her.

Elle grinned. “That’s if I make the starting roster,” she said. “They could bring in another goalie at anytime and keep me with the Phantoms for a while longer.”

Theo snorted from his stall as he tied his skates. “Please,” he said exasperatedly. “That backup spot has been yours from the moment they traded Nik. Who else would they give it to?”

“Petey,” Elle offered.

“I am but a wee child,” Petey huffed. He was nineteen and very talented, especially as an AHL goalie, but he was still young and inexperienced in the big leagues. If Davie hadn’t retired then Elle might not have been the obvious choice for backup of the Flyers, but as it was, it was likely about to be her spot.

“So was Hartsy before he became, like, Starter Hart,” Travis offered from his own stall.

Petey’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, and he was definitely not a rookie anymore, but he was still new enough that talking to NHL captains was still the kind of experience that made him feel starstruck.

Carter snorted, saving Petey from his embarrassed floundering. “I’m still a child,” he said.

“You’re twenty-nine,” Nolan pointed out flatly.

“A child at heart,” Carter snapped.

“And in the head,” Nolan replied solemnly, cackling when Carter threw a ball of tape at him.

The other rookies and newly drafted kids didn’t quite know what to make of the back and forth bickering, obviously used to seeing the NHL players in a more professional setting. Elle wondered how long it would take for them to realize that every single Flyer and Phantom was a hot mess.

* * *

The good news? Elle made the starting roster. She was officially set to be Carter Hart’s backup.

The bad news? Theo did _not_ make the starting roster.

(Elle may have cried a little over it, and Theo might have pretended not to notice even as they sat side by side on their couch and watched _Friends_ on Netflix, his arm thrown around her shoulders.)

Elle’s relationship with Theo was weird, especially in the eyes of everyone around them. The Phantoms and even Aaron had long since grown accustomed to their codependency and knew for a fact that they were just friends, but that hadn’t stopped internet speculation. Deadspin was still very certain that they were secretly married.

It wasn’t like that, though. Elle and Theo were best friends; to each other, they were the most stable adult relationship in the other’s lives. Elle didn’t know a world of pro hockey without Theo, and she was not entirely sure how she would cope without him.

“They made me an A,” Theo told her as he helped her take apart her bedroom furniture.

Elle smiled over at him, watery and sad whenever she was reminded that she was leaving him. “That’s great,” she said quietly. “I’m glad. You deserve it, man.”

Theo smiled back, not watery and on the verge of tears, but still not nearly as excited as he could have been.

In her head, Elle imagined this moment playing out differently. She imagined that Nik never got traded and that she was staying with the Phantoms. Mac had just retired at the end of the previous season, saying that he was too old to keep going despite being the best forty-year-old hockey player Elle knew. Everyone knew his alternate KK would end up captain, but knowing that Theo was going to be an A would have been the kind of news that required smoothies and maybe a special adventure to laser tag.

Playing in the NHL had been Elle’s dream since she was a kid, but since meeting Theo, she hadn’t imagined a world where she would be playing in it without him.

“Where are they putting you?” Theo asked, setting aside a screwdriver. “A hotel? Or did you find a place?”

“Hotel for now,” Elle said. “Searching for an apartment is—” There was beat, her eyes stinging, and then she couldn’t stop herself from letting the tears fall. “Difficult,” she finished, trying and failing to hide the crack in her voice.

Theo shoved aside what he was working on and crossed the room to her side immediately. “Don’t start this again,” he said softly, pulling her into a hug. “We’re just an hour and a half away from each other, yeah? We’ll hang out all the time. We’ll go play mini-golf and watch movies and—”

“I’m sorry,” Elle sniffed, pulling away. “I don’t know why I’m so upset.”

Theo frowned. “Are you… are you scared?” he asked slowly.

“Terrified,” Elle confessed with a gross, snotty laugh. “But that’s nothing new.”

“I’m just a phone call away, you know,” Theo said. “You can call me anytime, babe.”

“Yeah, I know,” Elle said, scrubbing at her eyes to get rid of the tears. “Don’t drink the Bahama Mama smoothie with anyone else, okay?”

“I promise,” Theo murmured, and hugged her tight once more.

* * *

Playing at the NHL level was no different than before. For the first few games, Elle found herself sitting on the bench and watching Carter play fantastic hockey. She got her first start of the season at home in early November, the first of two back-to-back games.

The Devils didn’t have a reputation in recent years for being the best team, and Nolan especially despised playing against them. It didn’t matter that Kurtis Gabriel had been a Flyer for years at that point and The Incident long banned from discussion; there were some teams that just left you with a bad taste in your mouth, and for Nolan, the Devils were one of those teams.

The Devils were on a road trip, also about to have back-to-back games. They would face the Capitals after the Flyers, who were definitely terrifying but not unbeatable, and the Flyers would be facing the Penguins away while the two teams clashed in DC.

That meant it was battle of the backup goalies that first game, and Elle’s first start of the season.

 _Good luck!_ Theo texted her right before the game started. _I’ll be watching with Mac and the mini-Macs. Lou says hi!_

A moment later, another text came in. _Brick wall_ , it said.

Elle had to take a deep breath to keep calm. It was something he and Mac would mutter to her before each game she started in, and it was just as comforting in the NHL as it had been in the AHL.

 _Brick wall,_ she sent back, _Tell Lou I said hi :)._ She then shoved her phone into the back corner of the shelf in her stall. 

The first period was scoreless, though there had been a few close calls on Elle’s end. The Devil’s backup goalie seemed unflappable, stopping each shot with ease, his eyes raking over the ice like he could see plays moments before they happened.

Elle had seen the goalie matchup reports, and she knew this guy was a good five years older than her, and had been all over the AHL and NHL, and he had also played on some international teams.

In comparison to him, Elle might as well have been a kindergartener going up against a college student.

The second period was far rougher than the first. A shot from their first line got by her, but her team was able to retaliate with a goal not even a full five minutes later, as well as a goal a minute before the period ended.

She really did love being a Flyer, the team of last-minute goals.

The third period was the worst. The Devils were getting chippy _and_ chirpy, both of which were a bad combination because the Flyers were made up of some hot-headed people (with their captain being the worst of those hotheads). Desperation setting in because it was only a one-goal lead, there were of course a couple of scrums after the whistle was blown, and definitely some reckless penalties, but nothing too horrible.

Somehow, the Devils got another goal five minutes before the end of the third, and after that time, they were tied.

Elle hated overtime.

“Calm down,” Carter told her when she skated to the bench to refill her water. He patted her goalie mask reassuringly. “You’re doing great, Queenie.”

“Shut them down,” Travis ordered. “We’ve got it from here.”

She skated to the opposite side of the ice for overtime, taking a deep breath as she skated back and forth in the crease. She thought about what Mac always said to her when she started to panic.

“Brick wall,” she muttered. She turned around and squirted her water bottle into the air, tracking the movement of the droplets with her eyes. “Be a brick wall.”

Elle had no need to worry. The Flyers won the faceoff and immediately went on the attack. The puck stayed entirely in the Devil’s zone for the entire two minutes of overtime until the Flyers managed to score on a flukey bounce. It was the ugliest goal had ever seen, but it was a good goal all the same.

The Flyers flooded the ice, lining up for their helmet taps. Aaron jumped on her in a tackle-hug like he had the two other times she had played over a season ago and won, and Travis tapped his helmet to hers with a murmur of thanks.

Carter skated up to her last as everyone else was already heading over the ice. He bumped her shoulder as they skated off together. “I’m betting… second star.”

Elle snorted. “Not today. That wasn’t my best.”

They pulled her when she got off the ice anyway. She was the third star, not second, but Carter was still very smug about it when she returned to the dressing room.

* * *

It was well the end of the November when they took the bus to Pittsburgh at the tail end of a road trip. The boys were an anxious ball of tense energy, just as they always were before a big game against the Penguins.

Their game wasn’t scheduled for another two days, so once they were dropped off at the hotel they were free to do what they wanted. They were fresh off a win against the Caps, so it was decided that they would all head out since they hadn’t had the opportunity to celebrate properly in DC. Most of the married guys turned down the invitation, heading up to their rooms to call their families instead or pass out after the long ride.

As captain, Travis decided it was his duty to make sure his team didn’t get up to any shenanigans, so he ended up heading out with the Flyers that decided to go. Some of the older and married guys did decide to come purely to “show you youngins what holding your liquor _really_ looks like” according to Nolan.

They all found themselves in a bar as far on the outskirts of the city as they could get solely because they didn’t want to be recognized by Penguin fans. Elle figured it was probably a good idea to avoid conflict until they were on the ice in two days.

The Flyers had only been in the seedy bar for an hour, but Travis and Nolan were in a competition to see who could last longer on shots (so much for no shenanigans) and so far it was the captain that was winning. Elle wasn’t sure how he was doing it, since he was tinier, but she figured the pure spite that burned through his veins just as intensely as it burned through hers helped metabolize the alcohol faster.

Elle decided to stick with her Angry Orchard, owning up to her basic bitch tendencies proudly. At least she was fairly certain she wouldn’t be nursing a nasty hangover the next morning.

“Bor-ing,” Aaron slurred, only two hours into their night. Everyone else was off elsewhere dancing or flirting with hot girls. “You should, like, get something harder.”

“Not all of us can be over six feet tall and two hundred pounds,” Elle pointed out slowly, patting his back like a true friend. “If I do that I’ll be _gone_ , dude.”

The other guy at their table was the only one on their team that was close to their age at twenty-four. “Lightweight,” Justin said accusingly, rolling his eyes.

“I spend less money to get drunk,” Elle said smugly. “Who’s the _real_ winner here?”

Justin snorted. “Oh, to be young,” he swooned.

Elle snickered and went to get up. “Try not to die of alcohol poisoning while I get another. I’ll be right back.”

She approached the bar to get another drink, and while she was waiting, some guy slid up next to her. “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.

Elle took a deep breath and readied herself to handle some creep hitting on her as she turned. “No thank you,” she said.

The guy was wearing salmon shorts and a pastel shirt. He practically exuded fuckboy energy. “Oh, come on,” he pressed, leaning across the bar toward her. “One drink couldn’t possibly hurt.” He held out his hand. “I’m Nate.”

“Hi, Nate,” Elle said slowly, like she was talking to a child. After all, children were the only ones other than men that often needed to be told _no_ repeatedly. “I’m good, thanks.”

His hand dropped back down to his side, and his smile didn’t waver. “Well, Miss Independent,” he hummed. “You here with anyone?”

Someone else slid up to her other side. “Yes. Her boyfriend.”

Elle didn’t dare turn to look around at the newcomer. It would ruin the whole façade that was an effort to get the pushy guy away from her. “As you can see, I’m in good hands,” she said, almost delighted by the slight wrinkle of disgust and disappointment that formed Nate’s nose as he frowned. “Thanks, though.”

“Yup,” Nate said, and disappeared back into the crowd.

“Thanks,” Elle said, turning around to face her helper. “I promise I could have handled that myself, but any help is appreciated it.”

The first thing she noticed was that he was wearing a Penguins t-shirt. That was rather unfortunate, but she _was_ in Pittsburgh, and not everyone could be perfect. It would only make sense that his major flaw had to be that he was a fan of them, because he looked absolutely perfect to her in every other way.

“You’re welcome,” the guy said, and then frowned. “But I heard that kid earlier. He told his friends he could pick up any girl, and they chose you. I’m not a fan of petty movie bullshit like that.”

“Me too,” she murmured, and she probably looked like a freak just staring at this guy like he was a tall glass of water and she was in a desert.

“I can’t really blame his friends for picking you, though,” the guy continued. “Even though they were assholes about it, they definitely made sure to pick someone cute.”

Elle felt her cheeks grow incredibly warm. “Thanks,” she said, trying not to sound like a complete fool.

His smile was bright and warm, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners. He probably smiled a lot, Elle realized, and she wondered if he always smiled in a way that was like sunshine rather than the sleazy way men typically smiled when they would sidle up next to her at bars or clubs.

“He’s still kind of glaring over here,” the stranger continued. “Mind if I sit with you for a bit? I’m very sure you could kill this man yourself, so I might as well stay over here for his own protection."

“You can stay as long as you don’t call me a basic bitch for my drink choice like my friends,” she found herself saying, and then immediately kicked herself for it.

The guy laughed. “We all have basic bitch tendencies,” he said dismissively. “I for one would _kill_ for a caramel frap from Starbucks. Can’t get enough of that shit.”

Elle grinned. “Yeah, I’m definitely a fan of the mocha myself.”

He slid some money across the bar toward the bartender when he returned to give Elle her drink, and then he ordered one of his own, a Coors beer or something. He was definitely correct that everyone had basic bitch tendencies.

He held out his hand to her. “I’m Gavin.”

She accepted his hand, which was warm and callused. “Elle.”

He pursed his lips curiously as they withdrew. “Elle, eh? That sounds familiar.”

Elle smiled back uneasily. “It’s probably pretty common.”

Gavin shrugged. “Maybe,” he mused. “So, Elle, you from around here?”

“Uh, no, actually,” she admitted. “Just here for a few days from Philly. Visiting with—” Well, she couldn’t exactly say her _team_. “—family.”

“That’s cool. This your first time here?”

“I’ve been a few times before, but never for more than a day trip. What about you? You live around here?”

Gavin nodded, taking a sip of his beer. “Yeah, just moved here from Edmonton this past summer.”

“A good ol’ Canadian boy, I see,” Elle hummed.

Gavin shrugged, his smile wry. “Depends on who you ask,” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

Elle could see many bad decisions being made in her future. “Did you move here for work or something?”

“Work, I guess,” Gavin said.

Elle’s phone buzzed, and she took a quick glance at the text Aaron had sent.

 _Trav said tim 2 go_ , it said. _ther r pens r here :(_

Elle groaned. “My, uh, brother wants to go. I should probably head out.”

“I can give you a ride back to wherever you’re staying, if you want,” Gavin offered. He must have realized how creepy he sounded, because he was quick to add, “If you don’t want to leave with him.”

She hesitated. Elle knew that she really should be heading back with the rest of her team if they were about to leave, especially if some of their rivals were hanging about, but Gavin seemed like a nice guy and she wanted to continue to talk to him.

“You could be a serial killer,” she said.

“You’re right,” Gavin agreed seriously, “I have been known to demolish a good bowl of Fruit Loops.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I mean, I’ll take the ride if you’re willing to drive, like, thirty minutes out of your way. I’m staying in a hotel downtown.”

Gavin shrugged. “If you’re cool with it, I don’t mind. I honestly just need an excuse to keep talking to this cute girl I saw at the bar.”

Elle felt her cheeks heat up. “I see,” she said, her voice cracking with nerves. “Well, just know that I have Find My Friends turned on, so if I end up missing you’ll have, like, at least twenty people coming to avenge me.”

“That’s terrifying,” Gavin said seriously. “Large family, I see.”

“Man, you have no idea,” Elle sighed.

To Aaron, she texted back, _I’ve got a ride. Try not to throw up in your Uber!_

“So,” she said once her phone was put away, staring pointedly at Gavin's shirt, “I assume you like hockey?”

* * *

Gavin had, like, a stupidly nice car. Elle was very convinced that he had to be some kind of lawyer or trust fund kid to be able to afford such a nice car.

“I’m just saying, like, objectively, the Caps are better than the Flyers,” Gavin was saying as he drove her back to her hotel. “The Flyers are just annoying. Like a mosquito.”

“ _Please_ ,” Elle huffed. “The Flyers literally just beat the Caps _yesterday_. They’re an evolving team.”

“They’ve been evolving for over ten years,” Gavin shot back, rolling his eyes. “They haven’t won a Cup in _forever_.”

“The Caps haven’t won a cup since 2018,” Elle quipped. “One time in their entire franchise history. The Flyers at least have more than that.”

“Oh, yeah, and I’m sure _two_ Cup wins is so much better.”

“Last I checked, two was still more than _one_ , pal.”

Gavin snorted. “Whatever. The Penguins still have more than both teams combined.”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over their current Cup drought,” Elle retorted, smiling cheerily. “When was their last win again? 2017?”

“Better than 1975,” Gavin snickered as he finally pulled up in front of her hotel. “Is this the right one?”

Elle glanced up at the tall building. “Yeah, this is me.” She made no move to go for the door, though, hanging back for a moment. “Hey, do you—if this is, like, too forward—”

“I like a girl who’s forward,” Gavin interrupted, grinning. “She usually knows what she wants.”

She hesitated. “Do you want to come up to my room?” Elle asked shyly.

“No,” Gavin said.

“Okay,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. She was still hovering over his car, the passenger door opened from where she had just exited. “Sorry for reading this totally wrong, I—”

“Elle,” he said patiently, “I only said no because I don’t want this to be a one night stand. I’d like to take you out on a date.” Hastily, he added, “If that’s okay with you.”

Elle felt a weight lift off her chest. “Yeah,” she said, beaming. “Yeah, that’s more than okay with me.”

Gavin grinned. “Great,” he said, fumbling for his phone in the cup holder. “Here, put your number in. You’ll be in town for a few more days, right?”

“No, actually,” Elle admitted guiltily. She hadn’t reached out to accept the phone; it didn’t feel right to tell this really nice guy that she could hang out with him when she knew she had practice the next day and a game the day after that, which would completely eat up her time. “I have a work thing, so—”

“That’s cool,” Gavin said with a shrug. He still held the phone out to her. “Philly isn’t that far.”

Elle felt like her face might start to hurt soon if she kept smiling. “Okay,” she said, finally accepting the device and entering her number into his phone.

“Thanks,” he said when he took it back. “Just in case I need someone to argue about hockey with, you know?”

“Oh yeah, I get it,” Elle laughed, rolling her eyes. “See you around, Gavin.”

He gave her a little wave and a smile in return. “See you around, Elle.”

Elle closed the car door and did her best not to skip to the front doors of the hotel. She was waiting for the elevator when she got a text from an unknown number.

_Pens >every team_

Elle pursed her lips, amused, and sent back, _except Flyers >Pens and you can't convince me otherwise._

A little frowny face came in a moment later, followed by, _I’ll forgive you… this time_.

Elle stepped into the elevator, practically vibrating with how happy she felt.

* * *

The next morning, Elle practically smashed her phone as she flung her hand at it to turn off her alarm.

Right on cue, Aaron was calling. Theo had warned him that Elle wasn’t the type to get out of bed easily, so he had taken on the job of being her wake-up call since she was no longer in Lehigh Valley with a roommate who would bang on her wall until she was ready to kill.

“I’m up,” she grumbled into the phone.

“Good. I’m gonna go puke again,” he groaned. “See you for team breakfast in an hour.”

Elle hung up and flung her phone to the floor, groaning into her pillow. It took her a moment to remember the previous night, but when she did, she was wide awake. She reached for her phone, taking note of the unread message she had from Gavin from their back and forth texting the night before.

 _I hope you’ll be watching the Flyers game tonight,_ his text read. _I hear their opponents are really tough._

Elle grinned stupidly and shoved her face into her pillow. _I guess we’ll see_ , she sent back, and forced herself to get out of bed and get ready for breakfast.

* * *

Half the team was still hung over when she made it down to the hotel’s restaurant.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” Nolan groaned at Ivan.

Ivan closed his eyes for a moment, likely counting to ten in his head. “You never want to listen to me,” he said calmly. “You know TK wins. Every. Damn. Time.”

“Not true. Carter usually wins.”

“Carter was responsible and stuck to water last night,” Oskar snickered.

“You wouldn’t know since you stayed in, Senior Citizen,” Nolan accused.

“I know my old roomie. He’s the responsible one.”

“Lies. You’ve obviously never seen this man shot tequila.”

Carter hid a smile in his coffee.

Aaron leaned close to Elle, squinting blearily as he examined her. “Did you hook up last night, Queenie?” he demanded.

Elle could feel her face instantly turn red. “No, you weirdo. Why do you care?”

Justin looked about ready to cry on Aaron’s other side. “You’ve betrayed me!”

“Fantastic,” Aaron cackled. “Justy, you owe me twenty.”

“What the fuck?” Elle demanded. “You bet on my sex life?”

“Correction,” Justin said, grumpily handing over the crisp bill that he ha dug out of his pocket to a very smug Aaron. “I bet on _everything_. It’s nothing personal, dude, but when AK said you had your own ride back, it was basically code for I-picked-up-please-don’t-bother-me.”

"He makes a lot of money betting on Liam's questionable decisions, so it's not just you, I promise," Aaron said sourly.

Travis frowned like a disapproving parent. “Were you sober enough to consent, Elle?” he asked sternly

Oh boy. He had called her Elle instead of Queenie, so she knew he was serious. “Nothing happened, _Dad_ ,” she said calmly. “But I could have if I’d wanted to. I had only had three beers the entire night. I wasn’t even buzzed.”

“You used protection, I hope,” Nolan added. “We’re not raising any babies in this family.”

“First of all, ew, please don’t think about that that in depth. Second, _nothing happened_. Third, like I’d let you hooligans anywhere near my theoretical baby.” Elle snorted. “It’s a wonder some of your wives allow you near your _own_ kids.”

“That’s harsh, Queenie,” Nolan said, clutching dramatically at his chest. “That really hurt.”

“It’s the hangover,” Carter said solemnly, patting him on the back. “You’ll get over it.”

“Hey now, Hartsy,” Travis quipped. “Talk to your child. It seems she’ll only listen to you.”

Elle groaned. “I don’t need this talk,” she said. “I’m a grown woman. This team is full of people who pick up, like, all the time. It’s not a big deal, and I repeat: Nothing. Happened.”

“I agree,” Carter said, and Elle knew he was her favorite for a reason. “And I for one trust that Elle is careful and capable of destroying anyone that dared to try anything she didn’t approve of.”

“Why are you teaching the baby goalie violence?” Travis demanded. “She’s young and impressionable!”

“If you should be worrying about anyone, it’s Liam and Johan,” Elle was quick to point out. “They’re the _real_ babies. Just teenagers. So young. So innocent.”

“You suck,” Liam called from the opposite end of the table. “Whatever you’re trying to pin on me, I didn’t do it.”

“He probably did,” Johan cackled in his thick Swedish accent.

“Teenagers are _not_ innocent,” Travis whispered fiercely. “And they’re _boys_. We can’t trust them.” To Oskar Lindblom a few chairs over, he called, “Oskar, control your children.”

“I hate you all,” Elle muttered, sinking in her chair as Aaron attempted not to laugh.

“Why are they only _my_ children when they’re in trouble?” Oskar shouted back.

“We didn’t do anything,” Johan said.

“This time,” Liam tacked on. “We didn’t do anything _this_ time.”

Elle stared, and then turned to Travis. “You know, Cap, I wonder about you sometimes,” she said slowly.

“Don’t question your father’s sanity,” Ivan offered. “He doesn’t appreciate it.”

“He’s not my dad.”

“I love that Vine!” Nolan said while Travis let out a fake sob.

Elle groaned. She liked them all a lot better when they were too hungover to talk.

* * *

Hangovers didn’t carry over to the next day, so everyone was ready when they hit the ice. They were all buzzing again, wired and ready to go in their game that night.

Elle felt uneasy facing the Penguins, especially after the last time she had interacted with them. She had only ever been on the bench for one game against the Penguins, but that had only been for the first period and part of the second before she was pulled into what would be her first NHL win. She could remember the game like it was yesterday, the pounding of her heart and the air coming off the ice as she skated toward an empty net, screaming fans all around her.

She found that she rather liked sitting on the bench against the Penguins, especially in their own house. Their fans booed and jeered at every little thing the Flyers did, from the starting lineup being announced to anytime someone in white and orange touched the puck. She had no desire to be the source of their ire, so she was content to sit through it all.

Elle had texted Gavin just a few hours before, asking if he wanted tickets to the game. She pictured in her head the moment she skated out for warmups, heading straight up to the glass and throwing a puck to the attractive man she had met a few days before. In an ideal world, it would have been great.

 _I’m sorry, can’t. I have work tonight :(,_ he had texted back.

 _That’s fine!_ Elle responded. _I understand that you probably don’t want to witness the Flyers beat the Pens in person._

 _Rude_ , he sent back with some crying laughing emojis.

It was probably for the best that he hadn’t come, anyway. The Flyers were losing despite her smack talk, and as always, it was a very chippy game.

Travis was being hounded by some guy that Elle didn’t recognize, likely an acquisition from a trade over the summer. She couldn’t see his face, but also wasn’t paying attention to him that closely. She focused instead on her own team.

The unknown Penguin got on Travis anytime they were on the ice at the same time in the same way Travis would hound Jake Guentzel. It was nonstop and annoying, but not violent until the strange Penguin checked Travis right in front of the Flyers bench.

The resulting scrum after the whistle happened right there in front of Elle, and she finally caught sight of the newcomer when his helmet fell off.

“ _Gavin?_ ”

His head snapped up, his eyes wide and startled for just a moment before Nolan grabbed the back of his jersey and hauled him away.

One of the rookies, Liam, nudged her. “You know him?” he asked with a frown.

She couldn’t make eye contact with him, too buys keeping her eyes locked on Gavin. “In a way,” she said, feeling ice trickle into her veins. “But right now, I really wish I didn’t.”

* * *

They won, but just barely. The game went to overtime, and then a shootout, but Carter Hart was a goddamn genius and saved the day like he always did when his team couldn’t quite get themselves together.

Once they were all piled onto the bus after the ensuing press questions, Elle pulled out her phone and texted Gavin.

_Be honest. Did you really not recognize me?_

A moment passed before her phone buzzed with an incoming call from Gavin’s number, but she quickly hit ignore and then sent another text, feeling anger start to seep in.

_I’m on the bus with my team. Answer my question, please._

A reply came in moments later. _No, I didn’t. Can we talk?_

Elle wanted to believe him, she really did, but now she just felt used. She’d heard plenty of nasty things on the ice before from other hockey players, and she had been very good at not dating or hooking up with anyone that played. It was one thing to know rivals and to chirp them, but it was completely different to fraternize with the enemy.

 _Not right now,_ she sent back.

_Tomorrow?_

Elle hesitated. Gavin hadn’t seemed like the malicious type, but now she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

_Sure._

* * *

Elle didn’t sleep that night. She was usually very good at napping on the bus and then marching her happy butt straight to bed after that, but she couldn’t help but remain wide awake as panic coursed through her.

She had been stupid. It was one thing to date people in a minor league where almost no one recognized her, but even then she had been very careful. Elle Queen had been major news at one point, and if she got even the smallest inkling that someone recognized her, she was quick to shut down any developing flirtation.

Deep down, she was a romantic. She wanted someone to respect her as an individual first, as a woman, not just as a woman hockey player. She wanted to be Elle Queen the person as much as she wanted to be Elle Queen the hockey player.

She and Theo had come up with the best rule: never date someone that recognizes you. That rule was born from one disastrous girlfriend of Theo’s in their rookie year that had assumed he was some hotshot and had dated him only until she realized he wasn’t really on the Flyers, but played for their AHL affiliate instead.

“It’s better to start fresh,” Theo muttered, obviously deeply hurt from being used. “I don’t want someone to date me just because I’m a hockey player. Even if they’re really hot.”

Elle had thought she was fine. Gavin hadn’t seemed to recognize her, and even when he had seen her on the bench he had looked very surprised to see her. Maybe he had been genuinely interested in her, but there was a small part of Elle that wondered if she had been used while Gavin was laughing behind her back with his teammates all along.

As the night dragged on and she remained wide awake, she found herself googling Gavin.

Full name Gavin Daley, drafted thirty-seventh overall by the Oilers. Defenseman. Twenty-three years old. Recently traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Fuck,” she whispered to herself in the darkness of her bedroom.

She closed her browser and opened up her messages, her thumb hovering over her brother’s name, and then Theo’s. After a moment of deliberation, she closed her messages again. She wouldn’t text them at six in the morning because that would make it sound like something was wrong.

Her life was falling apart, but she wasn’t dying, so it wasn’t worth waking either of them up in a panic.

She turned on her TV and watched _Friends_ instead. Netflix fixed everything, after all.

* * *

Gavin texted her around nine the next morning, and Elle still hadn’t slept when the notification came in.

_I have practice in a few hours. Can we talk before then?_

Elle’s hands shook as she typed back, _Sure_.

A call came through from him not even a full five seconds later, and she took a deep breath before she answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey,” he said softly. “You okay?”

Of all the things she expected, _that_ had definitely not been one of them. “Huh?” she squeaked with a frown.

“I asked if you were okay,” Gavin said slowly, like he was convinced she couldn’t quite hear him. “You seemed really… upset. Last night.”

“I mean.” Elle cleared her throat. “That’s probably because I was.”

She heard him suck in a sharp breath. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I really didn’t know who you were before last night, I swear.”

He sounded so, so genuine, and she really wanted to believe him. “Okay.”

“Do you believe me?”

“I don’t know,” Elle admitted. “Not to sound, like, pretentious, but my name and face made national news. Twice. It seems awfully convenient that you would swoop in to save me from being hit on.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why. It’s not like I’ve ever played against you. I didn’t spend any time in the AHL, and honestly I had no reason to know who you were.”

“Gee, thanks,” Elle said sardonically.

“Well, I _didn’t_ ,” Gavin said. “I’m more focused on what’s happening on the ice, not on the bench. And even if I _had_ recognized you, I still would have stepped in with that guy. He was a creep.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Elle murmured. She took a deep breath. “So, like, do you just want to pretend this weekend didn’t happen? ‘Cause I can totally do that, no problem.”

Gavin hesitated. He seemed to be doing that a lot as they talked, which was a stark contrast to his confidence on the night they met.

“Is that what you want?” he asked slowly.

No. What Elle wanted was for him to want to remember, to want to still talk to her even though she was Elle Queen hockey player and not Elle Queen normal girl from the bar. She wanted him to love to argue hockey with her like he had said. She wanted a lot of things, but at the end of the day, he was Gavin Daley of the Pittsburgh Penguins and she was Elle Queen of the Philadelphia Flyers. They played for different teams, _rival_ different teams. There was wanting, and there was knowing what she _should_ want.

“If you feel more comfortable forgetting about what happened, then I’m okay with it,” she found herself saying.

“What if I said I didn’t want to forget?” Gavin asked slowly.

Elle blinked, startled. “ _What?_ ”

“It’s just, I thought you were really cool, even before finding out you’re Elle freakin’ Queen,” he babbled, and Elle’s heart soared.

“Really?” she asked, and then briefly hated how hopeful she sounded.

“Really,” Gavin said, and his voice was much softer. “I could listen to you talk shit about the Penguins for hours.”

“That’s great, ‘cause your captain scored on me in my first game so I kind of hate him,” Elle blurted.

“Yeah, he has that affect on people,” Gavin snickered.

Now Elle hesitated, a little unsure of where the conversation was going. “Y’know, I’m supposed to hate you.”

Gavin laughed. “Yeah, but you don’t.”

“No,” she agreed. He hadn’t been with the Penguins long enough for her to hate him by association, nor had he done anything individually to garner her dislike. Still, she was a Flyer, and he played for her rivals. It was inevitable that she would one day dislike him. “But I could if you gave me a reason to.”

“Well,” he said, “I hope I never give you one.”

“Most men have only ever disappointed me,” Elle warned. There were exceptions, of course—her dad had always been in her corner. Calvin wouldn’t hesitate to stand by her. Her team had her back, and Theo had broken more than one nose to prove as much.

Gavin laughed again. Elle found she rather liked the sound of his laugh. “Prepare to be surprised, Your Highness.”

Elle rolled her eyes, but he continued on anyway. “Does this mean you won’t go on that date with me? I know some great ice cream places next time you’re in town, or I’m sure I could google some great places in Philly.”

“On one condition,” Elle said.

“Shoot.”

“Don’t wear a Pens t-shirt. I can’t condone someone making bad choices in public.”

Gavin laughed, loud and long. “Yeah, okay. Same to you with Flyers stuff, though.”

“Deal,” Elle said, and for the first time in almost twelve hours, she felt calm. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Bye, Elle.”

As soon as they hung up, she was already dialing another number.

“Hey babe!” Theo greeted. God, she really missed being in the same apartment as him. “How have you been?”

“I have so much shit to tell you, bud,” she said. “Do you have any games or practices today?”

“Practice at noon but nothing after that,” he replied slowly. “Are you okay? Do you want me to come over?”

“I’m fine,” she reassured. “But it’ll be better if I tell you in person. You won’t believe what happened.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Theo said. “I’ll be right there, babe. I’ll text you when I’m on my way, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. “See you soon.”

“See you soon,” Theo echoed.

* * *

Theo showed up at three in the afternoon with two smoothies in hand. “Bahama Mama?” he offered, holding it out to Elle when she opened the door to greet him.

Elle grinned as she accepted the smoothie and ushered him in. They both plopped onto the couch, and Elle told her best friend everything.

As she explained, Theo shifted on her couch, still new and smelling of Ikea, listening intently to her story without any trace of judgement or disgust.

“Do you believe him, not knowing who you were?” Theo asked once she was done with her story

“Yes. No.” Elle took a long gulp of smoothie. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”

“That’s okay,” Theo reassured her. “But you agreed to see him again, right?”

“Yeah,” Elle said. “He was so nice, but all we did is talk. We didn’t even hook up, which is what most guys in his position want, isn’t it? Hook up with Elle Queen because she doesn’t date hockey players, it’ll be a good story to tell the boys.”

“Maybe,” Theo said with a shrug. “But he told you no, you said?”

“Yeah, I totally would have climbed him like a tree if he—”

“Stop that train of thought right there, I really don’t want to know.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “The point is, he had the chance and he said no because he wanted to go on an actual date. So it should be fine, right?”

Theo shrugged. “If it’s what you want, you know I’ll support you.”

“You’re not going to try and talk me out of it?” Elle asked curiously. “This could go really wrong.”

“And if it does, I’ll be right here,” Theo promised. “And I’ll have to break my promise and break just _one_ more nose.”

“I’ll Jar you.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“That’s it. Ten dollars to the Jar.”

“Do you even hold power over me anymore? Is Jarring me legal?”

“Jar,” Elle repeated pointedly.

Theo rolled his eyes. “Well, you can’t Jar me if I don’t have money, so why don’t we get order pizza and watch _Coco_ again?”

“Darn you for knowing me so well.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a steaming hot mess as usual lol
> 
> and also i will continue to blame my pal julorean. so much of this comes from her tbh. Nat, lovely and awesome and amazing, is a character of her own creation.
> 
> the bit with the penguin and the falling--you'll see--are also all her fault so we can continue to thank her for like 90% of what happens in this series lol

Theo left later that night, and Elle immediately called Calvin to update him on the situation.

Of course, the first thing he did was burst out laughing.

“That’s hilarious, Elle,” he said blandly. “Now, _really_ , what did you call me to talk about?”

Elle scowled, hoping that he could feel her irritation even in Montreal. “I’m serious,” she snapped. “I really did agree to go on a date with Gavin Daley.”

Calvin must had realized how stern her tone was. “Holy shit. You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack.”

“This isn’t fucking funny, Elle.”

“Really? Just a minute ago you said it was _hilarious_.”

“I take it back,” Calvin said, and now he sounded full-on hysterical. “You’re dating someone who plays for the _Penguins_? A rival team member?”

“I mean, not _yet_ , but—“

“Holy shit,” Calvin groaned again. “Don’t you and Theo have those stupid _rules_?”

“Correction: we have exactly _one_ rule,” Elle said. “And in case you forgot, I’m not one for following rules.”

“Couldn’t you find just one rule to follow? And have it be _that_ specific rule?”

“Sorry, Cal, but it seems the only rule I obey is not to commit murder." She paused to consider. "Non-verbally.”

“I don’t like this,” Calvin said. “I don’t trust him.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “You don’t _know_ him.”

“Yeah, but neither do you!” Calvin pointed out. “Have you told Theo? I’m sure he’d agree that this is a dumb idea, too.”

“He knows,” Elle said. “Like I said, it’s not a big deal. For all I know, it’ll be a one-time thing. It’s not, like, a relationship-thing.”

“It has the _potential_ to be a relationship thing,” Calvin said, distressed. “Elle, I _know_ you. You get invested in things and people and you give your all, and if he doesn’t give you his all back, that’s gonna suck. Besides, hockey men are assholes. Dating one will only get you hurt. Dating one from your rival team will get you _really_ hurt.”

“Cal,” Elle said patiently, “I’m telling you about this because you’re my brother and I tell you everything, not because I’m asking for permission. I’m an adult. I’ll go on a date if I want to.” She paused. “Not that we’re dating or anything.”

“But as your brother, shouldn’t my opinion matter to you?”

“It does,” Elle said. “But right now I only hear you coming from a protective perspective.”

“That’s the only perspective I’ve got, Ellie,” he sighed, sounding resigned. “Even if he didn’t play for the Pens, I’d still worry about you. The media would put you on blast. Other teams would have a _field day_ with this.”

“The media and other teams can’t do shit to me,” Elle said. “They’ve done it all already. I’m a frigid bitch, I need to smile more, I’m not playing well enough, I got my way in with favors, am I a goalie because I like being on my knees—they’ve said everything they could possibly say to me.”

Calvin let out a shaky breath. “I know I won’t ever be able to talk you out of anything but just—just be careful, okay? Even if you really don’t care what others will say, I’d really hate to go to jail for punching someone in the face for saying shit about you.”

“Theo hits people that say shit to me all the time and hasn’t gone to jail for it,” she pointed out mildly.

“Yeah, but that’s on the ice,” he said. “Where it’s _kinda_ legal. It isn’t legal if I have to hunt this man down and destroy him.”

“You won’t have to,” Elle promised. “He seems… nice. He doesn’t seem like other guys I’ve dated.”

“Tyler seemed like a real fuckin’ peach, too,” Calvin muttered darkly. “And we both know how _that_ went.”

Elle groaned. “I’m not sixteen anymore.”

Calvin sighed again. “If you say so. Just be careful, okay?”

“I’m always careful,” Elle promised.

“Don’t lie to me ever again.”

Elle laughed. “I promise, I will try to be careful. I’ll keep you updated.”

* * *

Elle decided it was probably best not to tell the rest of the Girl Gang just yet.

She knew for a fact that Allie likely didn’t know Gavin, and even if she did, she probably didn’t know him all that well. Both she and Breezy still played in the AHL to develop their skills amongst other professional hockey players, but Elle had no doubt in her mind that they would be bursting onto the NHL scene in no time.

She could almost picture each reaction. Allie would no doubt be the calmest, but Elle didn’t know if she could handle her friend’s quiet brand of disapproval and careful, “Are you _really sure_ about this?”

Breezy would be loud, as was in her character. There would no doubt be a concerned FaceTime call with a lot of yelling that wasn’t rude but more panicked, and probably (definitely) flailing and struggling to come up with advice that ultimately would be of no use.

(It was the thought that counted, anyway.)

And Nat would be… well, she would be _Nat_. Nat had only just been signed before the season started straight out of the NWHL to the Vegas Golden Knights, and she was already taking the NHL by storm. She was the first European woman, and she was an intimidating figure at just over six feet tall with thighs that could probably crush someone’s head just as well as the watermelon she crushed in a video that had gone viral.

Nat was relatively new to Girl Gang, but she was just as sweet as she was terrifying. One of her favorite phrases was “Oh my god did you catch Dumb Bitch Disease from (insert some dumb teammate)?” and Elle was _not_ eager to be on the receiving end of such a phrase.

Though it would no doubt manifest in different ways, Elle knew that each of her girl friends would only react in concern for her. They were Girl Gang, Girl Power Chaos Squad, and though none of them had anything in common and probably wouldn’t be friends under circumstances outside the NHL, they were all each other had in a league that was not exactly female-friendly.

Still, she couldn’t help but text the group chat looking for validation.

_Elle  
If I did something dumb you guys would still love me right??_

It took a few minutes, but her girls were not the type to disappoint.

_Breezy  
Duh_

_Allie  
You do dumb stuff all the time and that hasn’t stopped me yet!_

_Nat  
Why ask silly question you know answer to)_

Elle smiled to herself. Even when all else failed, at least she knew she had people she could turn to.

* * *

_I heard you’re starting against the Oilers tonight_ , Gavin texted her almost a week later.

They had been texting back and forth pretty much every day since deciding that they would indeed give one date a try. They were somehow over the initial discomfort of realizing who they were and had since moved onto mundane conversation. They discussed everything from hockey to pizza toppings.

(No one could convince Elle that pineapple wasn’t a valid topping, and she would fight anyone (except Gavin) who dare try.)

 _You heard right_ , she sent back.

_Please win._

Elle rolled her eyes. _That’s always the goal, dude._

 _Except when you play us :D_ , he replied.

Elle went into the NHL app and took a screenshot of the score from the game they had just played a week before and sent it to him with a shrug emoji.

 _Slander :(,_ he sent.

_Not slander if it’s true ;)_

He sent a few crying laughing emojis, and then, _So I saw you have a small break next weekend. No games Fri-Sun._

She checked her schedule and found that he was correct. _Yeah that’s right._

_I don’t have any either. Ice cream?_

Elle didn’t fight the smile that spread across her face.

* * *

Elle did _not_ win against the Oilers that night.

“Honestly, fuck McDavid,” Aaron grumbled as they trudged back to the locker room after a disastrous second period. They were down 4-1 thanks for a hat trick from the captain of the opposing team.

“Like, but also not,” Liam said. “He’s crazy talented.”

“We’re not using logic tonight, Liam,” Aaron said patiently.

“What? He’s good!”

Elle groaned and wanted to slam her head into a wall.

There was a valiant attempt to make a comeback in the third period, but when everything was said and done, the Flyers had only managed one more goal.

“Sorry, guys,” Elle said as they trudged back to the locker room.

“Shut up,” Nolan replied flatly, knocking her helmet gently with his still gloved hand. “McJesus is no joke, Queenie.”

“Yeah,” Travis agreed on her other side. “You did good, kid.”

She wasn’t pulled for an interview after, thank god, and once she was showered and changed she gathered her belongings and finally glanced at her phone.

 _Good game tonight_ , said a text from Gavin. _I know where McDavid lives if you’re feeling petty and want to send him a glitter bomb._

Elle felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth, the sting of defeat lessening just a little. 

* * *

Elle sent Gavin her address the following Thursday, and the next morning he sent her a text when he was on his way to visit for the day.

She had thought she was calm before, but Elle knew she was dead wrong as the panic finally set in. She did the only thing she could think to do, and quickly scrolled through her contacts to make a call.

“Hi,” she said when her friend answered cheerfully. “I’m about to do something really stupid and I know I already sent that to the group chat a while ago but it’s finally happening and I may or may not ruin my career in the process and—”

“Do Americans not know how to breathe?” Nat interrupted.

“I know how to breathe,” Elle retorted. “I may be dumb as shit but I can at least do _that_.”

Nat let out a cackle on her end, and she was the only other person Elle knew other than herself that was capable of emitting such a mischievous laugh. “Okay, I believe you,” she said fondly. “Now, what stupid thing you do?”

Elle proceeded to tell her friend everything she had told Theo and Cal in the beginning, but Nat was the very first person she would be telling about her plans for the weekend.

Because she was the best person ever, Nat listened patiently until Elle finished, and then the first words out of her mouth were, “So… where is problem?”

Elle blinked kind of stupidly at her ceiling while she laid sprawled across her bed. “Uh, did you not get that part where my hockey career could literally be ruined? You think anyone would take me seriously if I dated another hockey player? One from a rival team?”

“Who cares? Alex is hockey player on my team and no one say shit about _us_ dating,” Nat replied stubbornly.

“People are too scared to,” Elle pointed out. She was very keenly aware of that video floating around on the internet of Nat yelling at some buffoon in a restaurant that had commented on how much food she ate. It was a video that was, of course, filmed by Nat’s lovely boyfriend Alex as denoted by the heart emojis all over the video that had originated on Instagram.

Anastasia Kucharskaya did not take bullshit, and she certainly was not about to take Elle’s. “Still not seeing problem here. If people say shit you just kill them.”

“With words. Please add that you mean with words.”

“Sure.”

Elle groaned. “You and Alex are on the same team, though. My team _hates_ the Penguins.”

“Is like Romeo and Juliet!” Nat gasped dramatically. “Romantic!”

“They both die at the end, dude.”

“Yes, I know,” Nat said flippantly. “I said _like_. Is not _really_. You make your story however you want, and then make me maid of honor at wedding. Simple.”

Elle laughed despite the anxious bubbling still churning her stomach. “Thanks, Nat. You make everything sound so much easier than it feels.”

She could practically hear Nat rolling her eyes from Vegas. “And you make everything more difficult.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Difficult means interesting.”

“I don’t think they’re synonyms.”

“What does spice have to do with this?”

“ _Synonyms_ , not cinnamon, Nat.”

“Oh, whatever. English is stupid. Go get ready for your dumb Penguin boy.”

* * *

Gavin arrived right around noon, and Elle practically skipped to the elevator that would take her downstairs to meet him.

“Hi,” she said cheerfully as she slid into the passenger seat of his car.

“Hi,” he smiled back. “Where to, Your Highness?”

Elle rolled her eyes at the nickname. “You up for some lunch?”

“I’m always down to eat food.”

“Perfect, ‘cause I need a burger.”

* * *

Being around Gavin was surprisingly easy.

It was often very obvious where Elle stood with most men. For most, she was beneath them. The fact that she played hockey was either hot or intimidating, and in each case she was often talked down on because how could a girl know _anything_ about sports?

Even when men didn’t know that Elle played hockey, everything remained skin-deep with them. Wearing makeup made her fake, but just real enough that she was worth flirting with if it could get a man laid. Men often made it quite clear that she was not on their level.

Gavin, however, talked to her as an equal. They talked about hockey, of course, since it was the main thing they had in common, and he didn’t try to police her knowledge of it. He listened to her opinions and countered with his own, but often they agreed on the same things.

They talked about mundane things, too, like the kinds of television shows they liked or movies or books and whether or not it was possible to place a picture of Claude Giroux in a summoning circle to conjure Gritty.

They ate their lunch at some small diner just outside the city where no one seemed to look their way, and they drove around Philly for hours while Elle pointed out some of the places she had visited since taking up residence. She would have loved to walk around with Gavin in downtown Philly, but the chances of being recognized were far too high. Since her talk with Nat, Elle had come to terms that everything would be okay, but she wasn’t quite ready for the world to know she was within the vicinity of someone who was supposed to be her rival.

Before long, evening fell, and the sun started to disappear behind the tall buildings. Gavin pulled up outside of Elle’s still very new apartment.

“You want to come up?” she asked. “Order a pizza, maybe?”

“Sure,” he agreed easily.

Gavin did not like pineapple on his pizza and he apparently wasn’t a fan of Friends, both of which Elle found to be very sad but not ultimately deal breakers. They ended up shoving pepperoni in their mouths while watching _Mulan_ and _Hercules_ and other movies from their childhood.

“This was fun,” Gavin said hours later, and he sounded like he meant it. “But I should probably be heading back now.”

Elle glanced at the time on her phone and found that it was close to midnight. “Its kind of late,” she pointed out. “Would you be okay to drive?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay in the guest room.”

Gavin shook his head as he stood up from his couch and stretched his arms above his head, his shoulders popping as he yawned hugely. “Thanks, but I have practice tomorrow morning.”

Elle frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you here this late—”

“It’s fine,” Gavin reassured, smiling big and bright like he had that first night they met in the bar. “I had a good time. I don’t know many people who know all the words to every song in a Disney movie.”

“Hockey men are uncultured. _Hercules_ is a masterpiece.”

“Rude, but also true.”

They had edged their way toward the door, both hovering in a way that made it quite clear that neither one of them really wanted Gavin to leave.

“We should do this again sometime,” Gavin said after a moment. “Maybe we can go get dinner somewhere nice.”

“It’s a date.”

Gavin’s smile grew. “You bet it is.”

Elle grinned right back. “Text me when you get back?”

“I will,” Gavin promised.

They were standing rather close, almost chest to chest. Elle stared up at Gavin, setting her jaw in the same determined manner she did when she got in net for every game.

“You should kiss me,” she said.

“I think you’re right,” Gavin agreed, and did.

It was a tentative kiss, kind of like the cutesy ones in stupid romcoms where the main characters finally realize they’re meant to be together and seal the deal. Elle found herself standing up on her toes, wishing her first kiss with Gavin was not happening while she was wearing socks with wiener dogs in hotdog buns on them.

Gavin leaned down to meet her, one had barely brushing her jaw like he was ready for her to pull back and change her mind. Elle had no desire to do such a thing.

They pulled apart after only a moment, the kiss not going anywhere further than the parting press it was meant to be. Elle felt warm and tingly everywhere, though.

“Just so you know,” she said quietly, “I’m _always_ right.”

Gavin laughed softly, his hand still light against her jaw. “I believe it,” he promised, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Bye, Elle.”

“Bye,” Elle said, and then Gavin was gone.

Elle drifted through her bedtime routine in a daze, going through the motions of brushing her teeth and washing her face and everything she was meant to do. Once she had slid under her covers, she found herself staring at her ceiling, the events of the day feeling far away like a dream you might forget after waking.

 _We kissed_ , she texted Nat. _It was great._

 _Loser_ , came the response, followed quickly by a heart emoji. Elle smiled to herself in the dark.

* * *

The season went on, the weather becoming increasingly colder. December brought snow to Pennsylvania, but not nearly enough to warrant canceling any games or practices.

 _I hate snow_ , Gavin texted her once. Practice had just ended, and Elle was preparing to head off to the showers but seeing his name on her phone when she had glanced at it for the time had made her take pause. _It’s so cold. I want to be warm again._

 _Fake Canadian_ , she sent in reply as she sat in her stall.

 _You’re so mean to me_ , he sent back with a crying emoji.

“What put such a big smile on your face today, Queenie?” Johan asked, suddenly appearing at her side.

Liam loomed over her other side. “Correction: _Who’s_ got such a big smile on your face?”

“Harassing Queenie is punishable by bag skates,” Travis called in warning from across the locker room.

“There is no harassment going on here,” Liam promised innocently. To Elle, he added, “Come on, dude, spill the tea or whatever.”

Johan frowned. “Why would Queenie spill her tea on purpose?”

“It means gossip,” Elle explained. “If I spill the tea, I’m telling you what’s up.”

“Oh,” Johan drawled, and then nodded firmly. “Got it. Spill tea, Queenie.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “There isn’t any tea to spill, you nosy children. Go harass TK or Patty or someone.”

Liam narrowed his eyes. “I know something’s up,” he said mischievously. “I’ll find out. I always do.”

Johan rolled his eyes and clapped his fellow rookie on the shoulder before steering him away. “Whatever you say, man.”

Once they had walked away to go pester someone else, Carter slid up to her side. He was stripped down just to his under armor, his towel thrown over his shoulder. “Ignore them,” he said, nudging her lightly with a closed fist.

“I usually do,” Elle replied wryly. “They’re so nosy.”

Carter shrugged. “I think they know something’s up. No one smiles at their phone like that for nothing.”

“You’re right. I’m thinking about the Starbucks I just mobile ordered, so it was worth a smile. I might even go wild and order a cake pop.”

Carter rolled his eyes. “If you say so,” he said finally. He steadied his suddenly serious gaze on her, and there was so much more weight to his words as he said, “Whatever makes you happy.”

Elle felt very exposed, like he could read her mind and see everything that she was thinking. He must have sensed how nervous she suddenly felt because Carter was very quick to smile widely and ruffle her hair, messing up her sweaty braid even further. He turned and sauntered off to the shower, leaving her sitting alone with her hair sticking up in a thousand different directions, phone still in hand.

* * *

“What are you doing for Christmas?” Gavin asked out of the blue a few days later.

They didn’t talk on the phone often. Texting was easier because their schedules were so crazy and they never knew if one of their teammates might be around. They weren’t going out of their way to hide that they were seeing each other, but the thing between them was so new and casual that they weren’t exactly ready to let others know about it quite yet.

Gavin’s roommate was out, and Elle had a rare evening to herself without a practice or a game the next morning, so she was sprawled out on her couch with a Marvel movie paused on the TV in front of her.

“I’m heading to Montreal,” Elle said. “We take turns going back and forth, so we’re visiting Cal this year.”

“Huh,” Gavin hummed thoughtfully. After a moment, he carefully said, “You know, Ottawa is only two-ish hours away from Montreal.”

“Is it now?” Elle asked, a smile curving her lips. “What are you suggesting, Mr. Daley?”

He huffed out a loud, amused breath. “Do you want to do something? We could meet up for dinner maybe?”

Elle felt her heart squeeze pleasantly in her chest, warmth spreading throughout her body. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

* * *

The Flyers’ last game before the short Christmas break was in Vancouver against the Canucks. Elle had the opportunity to play in that game, and it was always a wonderful time seeing Brock Boeser’s fantastic hair up close (even if it was shoved under a helmet).

They even managed to head into the holiday on a good note, riding high off a 3-1 win. It put them in the second wild card spot for the eastern division, and while they were barely hanging on, they were still very much in the race for the playoffs.

Elle didn’t travel back to Pennsylvania with the team, splitting off from them at the airport to get on a five-hour flight to Montreal instead. Calvin was the one to meet her at the airport, his excitable high energy a stark contrast to her tired slump.

“I missed you,” he said, practically sweeping her off her feet when she reached him.

“I missed you, too,” Elle said into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly.

People swept around them, bustling and stressed and trying to get to where they were going. Even at nearly four in the morning, the airport was bustling for the holiday season.

“How are you so awake right now?” Elle demanded. “I’m ready to pass out.”

“Lots of coffee,” Calvin replied cheerily. He grabbed her suitcase from her while she carried her carryon bag. “I also just really wanted to see you.”

Elle grinned. “Aw, that was actually really sweet.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“You’ve gone and ruined it already.”

Elle’s parents were awake when they reached Calvin’s house, and they were none too happy with their son.

“You were supposed to wake us up,” their mother said accusingly.

“You needed the sleep,” Calvin said defensively.

Their father grabbed him in a headlock. “Careful,” he warned as Calvin cackled. “You may be an NHL player, but I can and _will_ still kick your ass.”

“Child abuse,” Elle said.

“Hush,” her mom chided. “You know he’s right.”

Elle rolled her eyes, going easily into her mother’s arms when she was pulled in.

* * *

“Can I borrow your car?”

Calvin looked up from his cereal, milk dripping down his chin. “Why?” he asked around a mouthful of Cheerios.

“Wow, that’s attractive,” Elle said flatly.

Calvin narrowed his eyes. “Just for that… no.”

“Rude. Please?”

“ _Why_?”

Elle glanced around, just to make sure their parents weren’t about to appear around any corners. “I want to go see Gavin,” she said quietly. “He lives in Ottawa.”

“Ew, gross, I’m not gonna help you get to your bootycall.”

“First of all, shut the fuck up, we’re having _dinner,_ you slimeball.” Elle wrinkled her nose. “Second, you love me and want me to be happy. I’ll Uber if I have to.”

“That’s expensive.”

“I’m literally a millionaire, Calvin.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine. What are you gonna tell Mom and Dad?”

“Last minute shopping,” Elle said resolutely. “I need things for Girl Gang still.”

He shrugged. “Fine, whatever. Just don’t crash or anything.”

She gave him a little salute. “You got it. And thanks, I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to collect,” Calvin said cheerily.

She flicked him off in return, even if the gesture itself was a little less violent than usual.

* * *

Gavin had been a little vague about where they were going for dinner, so Elle had left Calvin’s place in what she deemed nice-casual, but she had a nicer dress and shoes stored in his trunk just in case the occasion called for something fancier.

The restaurant she pulled up to was one she had never heard of before, but it looked nice. She could see people through the window in jeans, so she assumed she was safe in what she was already wearing. She pulled the hood of her coat down around her ears when she spotted Gavin’s car and went to meet him.

He opened his arms as she reached him, and she fit easily into the offered hug.

“Hi,” she said, beaming.

“Hey,” he said, smiling back. “Hungry?”

“Always,” Elle confirmed.

Dinner was nice. They sat in a little booth toward the back, catching up and discussing the recent craziness of the holidays. Unlike Elle, Gavin came from a very large family, so his parents’ house was currently filled to the brim with people. Grandparents and siblings and cousins were crammed into every available room and pullout couch whereas Elle was just her brother and her parents.

“They probably won’t notice I’m gone for a while,” Gavin admitted. “It’s a little chaotic right now.”

“Fun,” Elle laughed.

Gavin insisted on paying when the bill came, even though Elle always offered. “You can get the next one,” he said, like he always did. They hadn’t gone out a whole lot, but the times they had, he had always grabbed the bill and said the same exact thing.

They headed out into the cold, and Gavin grabbed Elle’s hand and pulled her closer to his car. “I have something for you,” he said.

Elle frowned. “Gavin, you didn’t have—”

“I know,” he interrupted. “But it just kind of happened, and it was just too great to pass up.”

He grabbed a bag from out of the back seat, a cheery red colored Christmas bag with little white snowflakes all over it. Gavin handed it over to Elle, suddenly seeming shy.

“You should open it,” he said, and though his smile was nervous, he looked far too pleased with himself.

Elle stuck a gloved hand into the bag and pulled out a little stuffed penguin in a Flyers jersey. 

“It’s a Southern Rockhopper Penguin,” Gavin explained quickly. “The serious eye feathers just exude Flyers energy and I didn’t plan on getting it but it was suddenly in my cart when I was at the store and—”

“It’s so cute,” Elle murmured, running her gloved finger over the orange feathers in question.

“It’s not much,” Gavin said hesitantly, “but I hope you like it.”

Elle turned the penguin over. The jersey it had on had QUEEN across the back with a small 13, like Gavin had gone out of his way to buy one of those baby jerseys from the NHL website just for the plush. It didn’t quite fit right, so she could only assume it was what he had done.

Even if the plush itself had been spur of the moment, the jersey had not been. There had been a lot of thought put into the gift, she realized.

“I love it,” Elle promised, hugging it close. “Thank you. It’s super cute.”

Gavin practically exuded relief. “Good, I’m glad.”

Elle stood on her toes and pulled on his shoulder to tug him down to her level in one motion, placing a quick kiss on his cheek. “It was very sweet for you to think of me,” she said, “But I feel a little bad. I didn’t get you anything.”

Gavin shrugged, his cheeks turning red. He probably could have passed it off from being cold, but they hadn’t been that red before. “I don’t need anything,” he reassured. Slowly, he added, “But, I mean, you could always make it up to me by coming to visit me in all the chaos next Christmas. I might need to be rescued from tantrums and crazy relatives.”

Elle’s cheeks hurt from smiling so wide. “Deal,” she promised.

* * *

Christmas itself was nice, but the break was far too short for her liking. Her parents were going to stay with Calvin to see his game on the twenty-seventh, but Elle had to board a plane Christmas night to head back to Philly to prepare for a game on the same day as Calvin’s that would instead take place in Florida.

She crashed into bed as soon as she got home and then dragged herself out of bed just a few hours later to head to an optional practice.

“I don’t want to be here,” Elle grumbled, still blinking blearily. She was running off of less than five hours of sleep, and it was very obvious.

“Did you drink your morning coffee?” Aaron asked calmly.

“No. I hit snooze too many times.” Elle pulled her laces a little too violently. “Theo isn’t there to drag me out of bed anymore.”

“You’re so needy.”

“Correction: I just love sleep.”

Aaron rolled his eyes.

They left for Florida that evening, arriving at the hotel and crashing almost immediately after. Elle was one of just a few people that had been dumb enough to travel for the Christmas holiday, so almost everyone else was charged and ready to go.

Elle wouldn’t be starting against Tampa, so that was a small relief. She could be grumpy and sleepy on the bench rather than in net where it counted.

They didn’t win, which wasn’t super surprising. Tampa was like a super overpowered villain, after all, and if the Flyers had to get their ass kicked in the regular season that was fine. It was just one game, and they were still sitting in their wild card spot because the Rangers had also lost that night, leaving the rankings the same.

The season continued, and life went on. The new year came and went, and then there was the all-star break. Carter and Travis went off to DC where the event was being held, and Breezy was quick to make plans in the group chat.

_Breezy  
It’s too fucking cold. I’m gonna visit Nat in Vegas._

_Nat  
Yesssss come visit!!!_

_Allie  
Maybe I like the cold_

_Breezy_  
Fine, freeze in PA.  
Elle, come to Vegas with me!

_Elle  
K. When we leaving?_

_Breezy  
!!! Really? You’ll go?_

_Allie  
Ugh I don’t want to be left out. Count me in_

Elle found herself in Vegas two days later while the skills competition was taking place in DC, over 3000 miles away.

Allie had stayed the night at her place the night before so that they could both catch the same flight to make everyone’s life a little easier, and Breezy had arrived just two hours before them. She was waiting with her bags and Nat at her side when Elle and Allie finally made it out of baggage claim.

They had their customary group hug and chattered animatedly as they all headed out of the airport.

“It’s been way too long,” Breezy was saying. “And with all the bullshit we deal with, we deserve a vacation.”

“Agreed,” Nat said. “We should start with beach day.”

“Hell yeah we should.” 

Elle spent the remainder of her all-star break with her friends, relaxing on the shores of Lake Mead which was super close to Vegas. Elle was capable of doing things on her own, like going shopping and getting her nails done (when she was feeling motivated, anyway), but it was nice to do those things with other girls sometimes.

Nat cornered her the day before she and Breezy and Allie were meant to fly back to the east coast. “How is thing with boy?” she demanded.

“It’s good,” Elle said. “Really, good, actually.” She told Nat all about what had happened since they last spoke, ending with what had happened at Christmas.

“Cute,” Nat gushed. “You going to tell Allie and Breezy?”

Elle hesitated. “I don’t know. It’s still so new, and we haven’t really talked about telling people yet. I’ve only told two other people other than you, and that’s because I can’t keep secrets for shit when it comes to my best friend and my brother.”

“But you told me?”

“Well, yeah,” Elle snorted. “You’ve got your shit together. If anyone knows what to do, it’s you.”

Nat looked at her like she had lost her mind. “I don’t have shit together.”

“Well, you certainly do a good job pretending, then.”

Nat grinned and shrugged. “I guess. So not telling Breezy and Allie?”

Elle hesitated, then shook her head slowly. “Not yet. I don’t think I’m ready to yet.”

Nat nodded in understanding. “Okay. I keep secret, too.”

“Thanks, Nat.”

“Can I give more advice?”

“Yeah, I need all the help I can get, dude.”

Nat’s face took on a more serious look. “We love you no matter what, you know? They won’t care.”

Elle beamed. “I know. I’ll get there.”

“Good. I kick your ass if not.”

Elle rolled her eyes fondly in response.

* * *

_Breezy  
Miss you guys already :(_

Elle had been back in Philly for exactly two hours, but she found herself missing her friends, too.

_Elle  
I miss you too bb <3_

_Nat  
I don’t, bye bitches_

_Elle  
Except you. I don’t miss you._

_Nat  
Stfu you love me)_

_Elle  
….ugh._

_Allie  
Every single one of you is a mess_

_Breezy  
Welcome to the club bro_

* * *

January came and went quickly, and February was usually when the season really started to drag. The playoffs were still far out enough that things could change and teams that were at the top of their respective divisions might not clinch a playoff berth but also close enough that players were starting to realize that there was only two and a half months of the regular season left.

 _Dude the universe has a funny sense of humor_ , Gavin texted her one evening. _We play you in Philly on Valentine’s Day._

_Perfect, I want a win for Valentine’s Day please._

_No promises_ , he sent back with some crying laughing emojis.

* * *

“I could be on a date with my hot wife,” Travis was grumbling. “But I have to see Jake Guentzel’s stupid face. Fuck his dumb hair. What a horrible way to spend a day meant to celebrate love.”

“Why are you so obsessed with him?” Aaron asked flatly. “You don’t even _see_ his hair during games.”

“It bothers me to know that it’s there.”

“Why are you so dramatic?” Nolan demanded, and of course there was no other outcome but for them to start bickering.

Ivan sighed loudly, perhaps lamenting the fact that he was an A alongside two dumbasses. “We can all suffer together, at least,” he offered cheerily. “And check some Penguins into the boards. That’s always a good time.”

“Get ‘em good for me,” Elle encouraged. She would be sitting out against the Penguins again.

“You heard the Queen,” Carter announced. “Shutout, people. Lets make it happen.”

* * *

The chances of getting a shutout were gone in the first period where the Flyers and the Penguins were tied 1-1 almost ten minutes in.

“Hartsy is gonna kill y’all,” Travis said, breathing heavily after coming off the ice.

“You’ll be included,” Elle reminded him helpfully.

“Don’t talk back to your father,” Nolan chided.

Elle rolled her eyes. “For the last time, I—”

The action of the game was suddenly right in front of the bench, and Elle shrieked as someone came tumbling over the side of the boards and straight into her lap head-first.

“Sorry.” It was none other than Gavin, flailing with his feet in the air.

Elle couldn’t help it—she laughed. “Mess,” she gasped out between cackles, still laughing even as Travis pulled Gavin off of her and shoved him back onto the ice.

“You alright, Queenie?” he asked after.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It wasn’t like he chose to fall on me.”

“True. Just making sure, though.”

They lost, but only by one. Her team was steaming with irritation all around her, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to feel the same kind of animosity as they returned to the locker room.

 _What a way to say happy valentine’s day_ , she texted after the media had left the room and she prepared to head off to the shower.

Gavin sent back some laughing emojis. _Sorry. At least it was unique!_

 _You’re not wrong,_ she replied.

“Got a hot date tonight, Queenie?”

Elle looked up to find that Liam had drifted over to stand in front of her, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Maybe, but I don’t kiss and tell,” she said wryly.

“Oooh,” he laughed. “Don’t tell him about your Penguin friend, he might get jealous.”

“Somehow, I seriously doubt it,” Elle snickered.

* * *

There were flowers waiting for Elle at the front desk when Elle returned to her apartment.

“I guess you had a good Valentine’s Day,” the front desk manager for the night shift, Edward, hummed.

Elle grinned as she accepted the vase of roses. “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” she agreed quietly.

She took the flowers up to her apartment and set them on the kitchen table, carefully pulling the small card from the bouquet of pale orange roses.

_Sorry we couldn’t spend the day together. I hope this makes up for it just a little._

_—Gavin_

Elle stuck the little card to her fridge with a magnet, and she wondered if it was possible to always feel so happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is turning out a lot longer than i thought it would. whoops?
> 
> see y'all later!


	3. an interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam is dumb, but he isn't stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL BABY GIROUX IS NAMED GAVIN ASDFGHJKL 
> 
> i spoke it into the universe, i'm basically a witch now
> 
> anyway this one is a bit shorter than normal mostly because it is an interlude lol. we'll get back to our long-ass chapters next time for the final installment of this short little story
> 
> until then, enjoy this poor rookie thinking he's got it all figured out
> 
> as usual you can find me as puckthisleague on tumblr where i have slowly risen from the depths of summer hell where two jobs quite nearly killed me but never fear i survived and im back to regularly shitposting
> 
> ps i invented a backup goalie for the penguins so i dont have to shit on any actual players cuz despite being a fan of both the flyers and the caps im just here to have a good time pls enjoy

Elle was acting weird.

Now, as a rookie and youngest player on the team, Liam figured it wasn’t his place to point out oddities in other players. It most definitely was not his place to point out the same oddities in goalies, since they were all genetically dispositioned to be weird creatures to begin with.

For Liam, saying that Elle Queen was acting weird came with risks. He had no doubt that Michael Theodore of the Phantoms would leap out of the nearest shadowy corner and attack him if he spoke ill of his best friend and former roommate, and the Flyers’ captain and alternate would likely be right behind him with fire in their eyes.

Carter Hart would never hurt Liam. Not directly, anyway. He would bide his time and then make the rookie pay for saying anything about Elle Queen that wasn’t in a positive light. Liam had no desire to be mysteriously lost and never found again, and if anyone could make that happen, he was certain Carter Hart could.

It didn’t matter that Elle was also a rookie, just like Liam and Johan. She was a special brand of rookie, just a little bit older than the typical newbie, and though she was definitely new to the NHL she was not new in the world of hockey. Unless you had lived under a rock, you probably knew who Elle Queen was, after all, and it was common knowledge that she would not hesitate to destroy you with a smile on her face.

That wasn’t what was weird about her, though. Elle smiling like she was ready to kill someone was nothing new since she had smiled the same way at her draft day interview, sweet and cheerful but with a dangerous glint to her brown eyes.

It wasn’t weird that Elle had to drink a Bahama Mama smoothie before each game no matter where they were in North America or what time of year it was. No one tilted their head curiously when she strolled in with a full face of makeup on before games. Finding her muttering to herself while juggling tennis balls in the hallways wasn’t baffling, nor was watching her squirt her water into the air during warmups to track droplets. After all, that was the kind of stuff Hartsy did, and if Starter Carter Hart could do that, then so too could his backup.

No, what was weird about Elle was that she was being _sneaky_.

Elle Queen was not sneaky by nature. She had no problem sharing personal information with the team, and if she wanted to call an opposing player or beat reporter out on their bullshit, she was direct and unsubtle. She wouldn’t hesitate to tell you exactly what she was thinking, even without being asked, and she was often one of the most talkative people in the locker room.

So when that stopped, Liam noticed.

Everyone else carried on like it was completely normal, like it was another one of her weird goalie quirks, but he wasn’t so sure. He noticed that she started talking less, not out of spite or anger, but because she was so focused on talking to someone else through text instead.

On more than one occasion, Liam had approached Elle after a practice or a game to find her on her phone, her text messages open, only to have her quickly put it down the moment she noticed him.

Liam didn’t know what or who she was hiding, but it was _weird_.

He brought his concerns up once, _only once_ , to Carter.

“Just leave her be,” he advised with a shrug. “Whatever it is, if she wants to share it, she will.”

After that, Liam let it go. He continued to think that Elle’s behavior was strange, but he didn’t do or say anything about it. He didn’t bring it up to his fellow rookie, Johan, or to their captain, or to anyone else, but he didn’t let it go, either.

Elle was being weird, and he was worried, so all he could do was watch from afar as the wheels of his brain got to work. 

* * *

Liam figured out it had something to do with Gavin Daley by March.

There was only a little over a month left of the regular season until playoffs, and he had to admit that the Flyers as a team were doing pretty good. They were third in their division, and they had just barely risen from the depths of wildcard hell to claim that spot, but there they were in the top three.

The Islanders were sitting at first in the metro division, which was all fine and good because regular season rankings meant nothing once the playoffs started, and the Caps sat just below them at second. The Flyers knew that there was no way they would be winning the division, and they were fine with that because they felt pretty secure with where they were in the standings.

All the Flyers had to do was stay where they were, which was going to prove difficult since the Penguins were sitting in the wildcard spot that they themselves had just vacated, and they still had one more game to play against them.

“Alright,” Travis began in his pre-game speech. He stood at the center of the Penguin’s guest locker room, his jaw set determinedly and his eyes very serious. “This is it. We’re only playing these bastards one last time this season, and then we won’t have to worry about them until the playoffs. If we lose tonight, we’re going right back to that wildcard spot. Personally, I think it looks better on them.”

There was a small cheer of agreement, and then Travis continued. “We’re going to go out there, play hard, and get Hartsy that shutout we promised him back in February. Let’s get ‘em.”

Liam glanced across the locker room at where Elle was practically vibrating. She looked nervous, which he couldn’t quite understand. She was always nervous when she started, of course, but it seemed that she also grew nervous whenever they played the Penguins. Liam wasn’t sure if it was because of the whole ordeal with her first game being the first time was called up a few years ago or what, but it was like she was a special kind of nervous to face them.

Liam looked away and focused once again on his captain. He didn’t have time to think on it.

* * *

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the game was violent.

Liam hated playing in Pittsburgh more than any other road city because of how god-awful their fans were. He knew Flyers fans weren’t necessarily angelic toward the Penguins when they visited Philly, but it was hard to ignore jeers and taunts when it was coming from literally every single person around you.

“Tune it out,” Travis ordered sternly. “And if you can’t do that, at least use it to make you better.”

Liam didn’t understand how it would help, but he would certainly try.

The first period went by with little incident, but the second period was a little rougher. While the first period had contained mostly scrums around the net, the tone had definitely changed after intermission. There was a small fight between Travis and one of the defensemen from the Penguins who had checked Nolan in a way that he really didn’t like, and scrums were breaking out more and more.

Everyone was on edge, and the score was far too close for anyone’s comfort. There were some close calls, but Carter managed to prove once again why he was Starter Hart, leaving the score at 1-0 as everyone headed off the ice again after the second period.

Spirits were lifted as they headed down the tunnel for the intermission. “Atta boy, Hartsy!” a lot of them called, whooping in the locker room.

He smiled back, small and subdued. “We’re not done yet,” he reminded them. “One more period.”

Elle sat quietly in her stall, her leg bouncing nervously. While the nervous bouncing was nothing new, she was silent, which Liam felt he had already established to be rather strange.

Aaron seemed to have noticed, too, and he edged his way over to his stall and started talking quietly with Elle. Liam couldn’t hear their hushed conversation with all the other chatter and noise in the locker room, but Aaron seemed to know what to do to get through to Elle, so he shrugged it off and grabbed another Gatorade.

The third period started out fantastic for them. Kurtis scored in the first two minutes, bringing the score to 2-0, but there was still another eighteen minutes to play, and the Penguins were not about to lay down on the ice and let the Flyers cruise along smoothly.

Liam knew that it was do or die for them. It was their last time playing the Penguins for the season, so they had to make it count. He found himself playing a much more physical game, which was hard for him as a forward who was on the smaller side and better known for his speed rather than his physicality. Anytime someone had the puck he made it his business to check when legal, and though he might have toed the line a few times, he wasn’t called on anything.

His shift was nearing its end, he knew, so when he saw Daley with the puck, he flew across the ice to check him and steal it. His check was great, legal and everything, and it knocked Daley off his feet and the puck bounced away from his stick. Liam was quick to take the puck and start back toward the offensive side, Daley climbing quickly to his feet and skating after him.

Liam didn’t score, but the puck was back in the Penguins’ zone. He was being beckoned back toward the bench, so he skated back to his team and hopped over the boards to find Elle looking at him, her mouth set in a displeased line. She looked away just as quickly, refocusing on the game.

Liam cringed; whatever he had done to upset Queenie, he wanted to make sure it never happened again so that he wouldn’t receive that look _ever_. He had no desire to be given the Mom Glare from his own mother, and much less from a teammate.

Aaron scored a third goal with ten minutes left, leaving the score at 3-0, and it was starting to look like they might actually win. It was in the moments after the goal when play had resumed that all hell broke loose.

Liam couldn’t be quite sure what had happened, his eyes focused on Aaron while he had the puck, but behind the play a fight had broken out. The linesmen and refs started blowing their shrill whistles, and everyone on the ice converged on Nolan as he took swing at the Penguins fill-in while Murray was injured, Chris Dodd.

Everyone on the bench was suddenly standing, even Elle, her eyes wide with panic as she watched everyone jump into the same fight. It was almost like the line brawl of the 2012 Penguins-Flyers playoff series, but this was motivated out of the need for a team to protect their goalie. To see Nolan’s face pinched with such anger and realize that the alternate had chosen to take a swing at a goalie knowing the repercussions, Liam knew something terrible had to have happened or been said.

It wasn’t like Chris Dodd hadn’t excepted the fight, of course—his helmet was off and his pads were down, and he looked just as eager to take a swing at Nolan. The rest of his team was getting there first, of course, grabbing at Nolan like they were personally ready to rip him to shreds.

On the other end of the ice, even Carter had started to skate forward, stopping nervously at the blue line. Crossing might result in a penalty, and he knew that, but if his team needed help he’d be there in a flash. Liam was fairly certain the only reason Carter remained on their side was because one of the Penguins, Daley, had grabbed onto his own teammate and was pulling Dodd none too gently out of the fray, an irritated look on his face. Though the goalie was still yelling angrily, Daley was making no move to attack anyone.

“What the fuck happened?” Travis demanded. He hadn’t jumped over the boards, but he looked about ready to.

Johan was glaring at Dodd like he might shoot lasers out of his eyes and vaporize the goalie right on the spot. “Only two reasons Patty would attack like that,” he said quietly, his gaze drifting pointedly to Elle and then Carter still on the ice.

Elle wasn’t listening—she was staring at the fight and leaning over the boards trying to get a better look, worry clearly evident on her face.

The scuffle was short lived. Nolan was being ejected from the game, and he stalked off down the tunnel with a busted lip and a scowl on his face. On the Penguins’ side, Brian Rust was being guided over to the bench and down the tunnel as well.

In the end, each team got a fighting major, but the Flyers had a goalie interference penalty to kill off. Honestly, they were lucky to have the penalty be as short as it was, and luckier still to not have been scored on.

Elle rounded on Aaron the moment the craziness was over and he returned to the bench. “What happened?” she demanded as Travis hopped the boards for the next shift. Liam did his best to look like he was focusing on the game as he eavesdropped.

Aaron sighed, grabbing one of the water bottles. “He was talking shit about Hartsy and you,” he said. “Real nasty stuff.”

Elle’s mouth formed a thin line and she sat back, her eyes zeroing in on the game. Liam could practically feel her frustration fade away into tired acceptance.

Neither team scored for the rest of the game, and the Flyers were more than content to take their 3-0 victory.

They returned to the locker room with a few minutes to get themselves together before the press would descend upon them, and Travis marched right up to his alternate as everyone else scattered to strip out of their gear.

Nolan was seated at his stall, showered and dressed with his damp hair still dripping onto his t-shirt as Travis leaned over him still in full gear. They were speaking in quiet, heated whispers that Liam didn’t quite manage to decipher through the rest of the locker room chatter.

Elle changed out of her gear slowly, her back to the room as she took off her pads. Liam watched her for a moment, noting that the tense hunch to her shoulders was gone even though her abnormal quiet remained. He chose to brush it off and grab his stuff before heading off toward the showers.

* * *

They were about an hour into their drive back to Philly when it hit him.

“Holy shit,” Liam whispered loudly, his entire body jolting. He was a goddamn _genius_. “I figured it out.”

Johan removed one of his headphones. “Did you say something?” he asked, squinting at him in the dark.

“Nothing,” Liam said, but he kind of wanted to scream to his team about his brilliance.

Liam did not scream. He was dumb, but he wasn’t stupid enough to voice his conclusions without hard proof to back them up. After all, saying that Elle was _at least_ buddy-buddy with someone from the Penguins was a pretty hefty accusation.

He settled more comfortably in his seat and took to his phone. He had some research to do.

* * *

Liam didn’t get too much done that night. He managed to Instagram and Twitter stalk Gavin Daley pretty thoroughly before the bus arrived back in Philly and he was forced to drive home. He crashed almost immediately into bed, ignoring Johan’s stern beratement of his lack of hygiene for not brushing his teeth before sleeping.

He slept until eleven the next day, which was fairly late for him, and the only reason he had woken in the first place was because Johan had very pointedly stomped around before getting in the shower between their rooms.

Still foggy with sleep and his face still half-smushed in a pillow, Liam grabbed his phone and returned to the ever-helpful internet.

Gavin Daley followed Elle on both Instagram _and_ Twitter, which was fine. A lot of people around the league followed Elle because she was just that cool, of course. Even some retired players that she had never even met like Claude Giroux followed her. Gavin Daley following her on social media wasn’t the weird part.

Elle followed him back, though, which was _mind-blowing_.

There was no evidence that the two knew each other, but his digging had led him to tumblr where there was an entire tag dedicated to them. The Gavelle tag was full of short clips and gifs of Gavin practically falling into Elle’s arms, as well as screenshots of the fact that they followed each other on social media.

He scrolled through the tag to see what other incriminating evidence might exist, and the very first post was a video from the first time they had played the Penguins that season, where a scrum in front of the bench had led to Elle letting out a startled, “Gavin?”

The video had no sound and it was blurry, obviously shot from a phone, but Liam distinctly remembered how confused Elle had been, and how surprised Daley had been to look up and see her there before being pulled away by Nolan.

The caption under the video was _idk what she yelled at him but i’m pretty sure gavin daley is terrified of elle queen lol_.

Liam turned off his phone and laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Johan?” he yelled loudly.

His roommate had long since vacated the shower and returned to his own room, screaming back a muffled, “What?”

“I’m having a crisis,” Liam called.

Johan came through his door a moment later, throwing himself across the end of Liam’s bed and almost breaking his feet in the process.

“You don’t look like you’re having a crisis,” Johan observed as Liam wiggled his feet out from under his roommate.

“It’s internal.”

Johan sighed loudly, also staring up at the ceiling. “Why are you having a crisis?”

“I’m, like, eighty percent sure Queenie is either dating or hooking up with Gavin Daley from the Penguins.”

There was a pause, and then Johan rolled over onto his side to peer at Liam. “What makes you think that?” he asked warily.

“Well, I mean, she’s obviously been dating someone. She’s on her phone all the time now, smiling and shit.”

“Yeah, but we _all_ knew that,” Johan said impatiently. “Why do you think it’s a Penguin?”

“She knew him,” Liam said. “She called him Gavin during our first game against the Penguins. He crashed into her lap the game after that, and last night he pulled Dodd out of a fight.”

“I don’t see what that last one has to do with anything. He was protecting his goalie. That has nothing to do with Queenie.”

“Dodd said something shitty. We’re all fairly certain Hartsy and Queenie were mentioned. Gavin Daley didn’t attempt to attack Patty—he just grabbed Dodd and pulled him away. I also think he looked pretty pissed off.”

“You’re imaging shit, man.”

“Maybe,” Liam sighed, throwing his arms out dramatically. “Or maybe I’m right.”

Johan rolled his eyes. “Right, wrong, doesn’t matter. Still none of your business.”

“I know,” Liam said. “I’m done now. I have an answer that satisfies me.”

“That’s it?” Johan snorted. “Making up this scenario is enough to make you stop questioning why a goalie is weird?”

“ _Extra_ weird,” Liam corrected. “She was always weird, but then she became _extra_ weird. The extra bit had nothing to do with her goalie-weird.”

“Whatever, man,” Johan said, rolling off the bed and to his feet. “But you’re wrong. I play with her last year in AHL. She is too dedicated to date anyone, and Queenie is not likely to date Penguin. Is like oil and water, you know? Too different.”

Liam sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m probably reading too much into it.”

Johan hummed. “Yes, read too much shit. Come play video games instead.”

“You’re a bad influence, dude.”

Johan rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know. I kick your ass now.”

Liam shoved Johan off the bed with his feet and his roommate chased him to the living room, Gavin Daley completely forgotten.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK YALL
> 
> anyway this semester is slowly killing me so im sorry this took longer than usual and it probably has mistakes galore but that's kind of my brand y'know?? feel free to call me out for it
> 
> anyway we've made it to the final chapter of this story. there's not a whole lot of hockey in this one but i've got more in the works, and a few things to post to my random ice queen dump
> 
> thanks as usual for reading y'all!

They put Elle in the net for the first playoff game. To give Hartsy a bit of an extra break, the coaches said, and to give her some playoff experience while they had the chance.

The Flyers took to the ice with Elle in net and they won the game 2-1, only barely scraping by. Still, a win was a win, and they were more than happy to take it.

They proceeded to lose the next three games.

Travis forced the staff out of the locker room after the third loss and shut the door loudly behind them. He turned to face his team, all of them quiet in the crowded room. “We’re not out of this yet,” he said firmly. “All of you look at me. We. Are. Not. Done.”

Travis’s words and the spite that each of them had within must have kicked in because they won game 5 and 6, one of which was a shutout for Hartsy, and somehow managed to force a game 7.

“It’s just one game,” their coach said. “All we have to do is win this one.”

They lost 4-3 in overtime, and while the Islanders celebrated at the opposite end of the ice, Elle let her head fall into her hands in defeat.

* * *

Gavin didn’t text her for a solid three days after the loss, which was probably for the best. The Pens had advanced to the second round after a fourth victory in game 5 of the first round, so they were preparing to continue their playoff run with practices that took up a lot of their time.

Elle was fine with that, of course. She had the exit interviews to do, and then she had to call Theo and get a good cry out, which was always very relieving for her, and then she had to pretend to be less mopey around her parents who had come to see her play and her brother who hadn’t even made it to the playoffs.

On the third day following their loss, the night before game one of the second round for the Penguins, Gavin texted her.

_Can we talk?_

Elle pressed call. It rang once before he answered. “Hey,” he said, and just hearing his voice kind of made everything better.

“Hey,” she said back. “Congrats on making it to the second round.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Wish we were playing you instead.”

“Me too,” Elle admitted. “But if I’m not going to win it this year, I want it to be you or Nat.”

Gavin hummed. “Are you heading anywhere? I know you said you spend a lot of time in Florida with your grandparents during the summer, but are you leaving right away?”

“No, probably not for another few weeks,” Elle said. “I might go visit Theo and Mac before I do anything else.”

“I see,” Gavin said slowly. “Well, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“And you can totally say no if it bothers you—”

“I will definitely say no if it bothers me,” Elle promised. “Spit it out, Gavin.”

“Well, would you consider coming to a few of our playoff games?” he asked. “I was contemplating telling at least Jake about us, like, _dating_ because I would really love to have your support and I also kind of think he knows because I was keeping up with your game while we were doing some team bonding thing and—”

“Stop talking for a sec,” Elle said. Her brain was a whirlwind of various thoughts, all of which were old and somehow new at the same time. “Calm down,” she continued, but she couldn’t really be sure if she was talking to Gavin or herself.

“I am calm,” Gavin said.

“Hush,” Elle huffed.

 _Dating_ , she thought. They had been on their fair share of dates. He had a toothbrush in her bathroom and vice-versa. The stuffed penguin wearing the infant jersey with her name on it sat happily in the center of her bed amongst her pillows.

Dating. They were doing that, _had_ been doing that basically all season. How had she not noticed until he’d said the words aloud?

“Elle?” Gavin pressed after a long moment of silence. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Elle finally said once her minor freak out had died down.

“Yeah to what?” Gavin asked hesitantly. “All of it? Some of it?”

“All of it,” she said. “I’ll go to your games. And you can tell your captain that we’re dating as long as I can tell TK.”

Gavin paused. “He’s not gonna, like, _murder_ me on the ice or anything, is he?”

“Nah, TK is harmless.”

“First of all, that’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard,” Gavin said. “He’s like a grumpy chihuahua. I’ve got a good couple of inches and pounds on him and I _still_ think he’d kick my ass if given the chance.”

Sometimes, Elle forgot that her captain had a reputation. Whenever she thought of Travis Konecny, she thought of him bickering with Nolan over who was the better parent to their team, or that time he had on sparkly eyeshadow from two seasons before. Travis Konecny was a disaster of a human being, but he was also the first person to leap headfirst into a scrum to protect a teammate.

“Probably,” Elle agreed easily. “But TK won’t do anything. He’s not the kind of guy that goes looking for a fight for no reason.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Gavin chuckled. “It’s a date, then. I’ve got a ticket for tomorrow if you think you can make it, and I’ll talk to Jake tonight if you’re okay with it.”

“I can make it,” Elle said. “And it’s fine with me. You’re really sure about this? You’re okay with, like, probably more than just your team knowing? I don’t think a Flyer walking into PPG is going to go unnoticed.”

Gavin hesitated. “I hadn’t thought about that. If it makes you uncomfortable we can just forget about it. It’s not a big deal, y’know?”

“No,” Elle said. “I’ll be there.”

* * *

Elle thought it best to call Travis the next morning as she was about to set off for Pittsburgh.

“Hey, Queenie,” Travis greeted. The last time she had seen him had been at the exit interviews, his shoulders slumped and his eyes tired. He sounded much better. “What’s up?”

“I need to talk to you about something,” Elle said. “And you have to promise you won’t get mad.”

“Why would I be mad?” Travis asked slowly.

“Well—”

“Hold up. Is there murder involved?”

“No.”

“Illegal activities of any kind?”

“ _No_.”

“Nice. My chances of being mad are very small now. Proceed.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “You’re a disaster, you know that?”

“Patty reminds me every day,” Travis hummed. “But I know you didn’t call me just to tell me something I already know. What’s wrong, Queenie?”

“Well,” Elle said, “I’m kind of dating someone.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Travis snorted. “You think the entire team haven’t noticed you being all weird on your phone?”

“I’m not weird,” Elle protested. “I’m perfectly normal.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Travis dismissed. “You’re not telling me the full story. Why did you need to call me just to tell me you were dating someone?”

“They’re kind of a hockey player.”

She could practically visualize Travis’s frown. “Okay.”

“In the NHL.”

“I figured.”

“They’re a Penguin.”

“They’re a— _excuse me?_ ”

Elle grimaced. She hadn’t expected calm, but she hadn’t quite expected her captain, a grown-ass man, to reach an octave that high with his voice. “I’m dating Gavin Daley.”

Travis made a noise that one might make when being stabbed in the back. “Queenie, we have _got_ to talk about your taste in men,” he nearly wailed.

“Gavin’s a good guy, Cap.”

“Men are _trash_ ,” Travis said furiously. He sounded almost delirious. “We’ve had this discussion.”

“He’s one of the least trashy one’s I’ve met.”

Travis groaned. “A _Penguin_?” he finally said.

“He does play for them, yes,” Elle said. “And I’m going to his game tomorrow. I just thought I should let you know because if I didn’t tell you now, you would have found out some other way.”

“I’m trying to be diplomatic about this—”

“Whoa, big word, Cap!” Elle gasped. “I’m proud of you.”

“Shut up, I’m being a good captain right now and you’re ruining it,” Travis whined. “ _As I was saying_ , I don’t think it’s a good idea, but if you’re happy then that’s all there is to it. As your captain, you should know that I’ll support you through anything.” He paused. “I’m not going any easier on him on the ice, though.”

Elle was a little saddened that Travis couldn’t see her beaming smile through the phone. “I wouldn’t expect you to,” she said. “Thanks, TK. You’re the best, you know that?”

“I know, but you could tell Patty or Hartsy that,” Travis said. “I’m the best parent on this team and they don’t believe me.”

“You’re not technically a parent—”

“Hush, I am.”

“Yeah, okay,” Elle snickered. “Thank you. I mean that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Travis said smugly. “I am pretty great.”

“You could be better.”

“Shut up and go back to telling me I’m the best.”

“Oh, did I really say that? I don’t remember.”

Travis cursed. “You’re lucky I like you.”

Elle grinned because, well, she really was lucky.

* * *

She arrived in Pittsburgh a little after noon with her overnight bag in hand, and Gavin beamed as he opened the door to his apartment to find her standing in the hall.

“Hey,” he said, ushering her in. “I’m really glad you decided to come.”

“Me too,” she said. “And TK was super chill about it.”

“So was Jake,” Gavin laughed. “I really don’t know why we didn’t just tell them sooner.”

“I mean, we really didn’t have a label on this thing,” Elle said. “It’s kind of hard to tell them about something that could have ended in disaster.”

“I for one am very glad it didn’t,” Gavin said.

Elle felt warm all over. “Yeah, me too.”

* * *

It was kind of awkward to sit amongst the wives and girlfriends of a team that was not her own.

They did their best to include her, of course. They were women that had known each other for at least the last couple of months at that point, and being some new girl that randomly showed up without her own little jean jacket with Gavin’s name across the shoulders made her stand out.

“So how did you meet Gavin?” a particularly tall blond, Tara, asked conversationally while the teams were warming up on the ice below.

“By accident,” Elle admitted. “I was out with my team and he just happened to be there. We didn’t recognize each other and we got to talking and, well, here we are.”

One of the other women quirked a perfectly filled in brow. Her name was Olivia, and Elle was almost ashamed to admit that she was intimidated by her powerful eyebrows. “He didn’t recognize you?” she asked flatly.

“No,” Elle squeaked.

Olivia groaned. “God, why are men so fucking _stupid_ sometimes?”

Elle forgot to be intimidated rather quickly. “That’s a good question,” she said solemnly.

“I didn’t even pay attention to hockey when you were drafted and _I_ still knew!” Olivia snorted, and then added on with a disdainful sniff, “ _Men_.”

Elle snickered and decided she rather liked the ladies she would be spending the entire game with.

* * *

The Penguins picked up a win, and Tara shot-gunned a beer in celebration. It was the best thing Elle had ever experienced. Normally she was the one on the ice while the wives and girlfriends of her teammates watched on, but to be among them for a win felt really good. The excited chattering in their little suite was similar to the buzz that Elle often found herself enjoying in the locker room, but in this scenario she was way less sweaty.

“Will we be seeing you again?” Olivia asked sweetly.

Elle would be leaving the game with almost fifteen new phone numbers and several invitations to hang out next season when the Flyers were in town, as well as support if she so needed it when news would inevitably break about her affiliation with Gavin.

“Yeah,” Elle beamed. “I think you can count on it.”

* * *

When Gavin and Elle made it back to his apartment later that night, Elle’s Instagram and Twitter were going crazy with notifications.

“People are freaking out because they saw me at the game,” Elle said. She was scrolling through the same three or four blurry photos taken by fans that had seen her passing by them.

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked.

Elle browsed through her camera roll until she found a picture of them that Tara had insisted on taking after the game. She posted it on Instagram and tagged him in it with the caption, _This penguin is alright I guess,_ alongside a penguin emoji.

She then promptly turned her phone off and chucked it onto the couch. “I think I want a jean jacket next year,” she said.

Gavin grinned. “I think we can arrange that.”

* * *

The fallout wasn’t nearly as bad as she had expected. When Elle finally turned her phone back on the next morning, she of course had what felt like thousands upon thousands of notifications from her various social media and her text messages were at a whopping 586 and counting.

She also had several missed calls from the Flyers PR and her parents. She decided it was probably more important and also less painful for her to call her parents first.

“Hi, Ellie,” her mom greeted sweetly. “You sure know how to keep us on our toes, huh?”

“Gotta keep those senses sharp as you get older, you know.”

Gabriella Queen’s laugh filtered over the phone, and Elle knew that he had nothing to worry about with her parents. “Maybe next time give your poor mother a heads up? Your grandmother is asking about grandchildren now that you’re apparently involved with someone.”

Elle snickered. “Tell Grandma not for a long while.”

“Tell her yourself,” her mom said. “She nagged me for years until I finally had kids, and I think it’s your turn to deal with her anyway.”

“How could you,” Elle responded sarcastically. “Sold out by my own mother.”

“Sucks,” Gabrielle said sweetly. “Anyway, when will we be meeting this Gavin?”

“I dunno,” Elle admitted. “We haven’t figured stuff like that out yet, y’know?”

“Okay,” her mom sighed. “Well, we expect to meet him, but I’ll let you go for now. I just wanted to check up on you. Dad says hi.”

“Tell him I said hi back,” Elle said. “Bye, Mom. And thank you for being so awesome.”

“Always.”

As soon as she hung up on her mother, she dialed the number for the Flyers’ PR guy.

“Elle,” Henry said calmly.

“Henry,” Elle responded in the same tone.

“Did you enjoy the game last night?” He sounded much more amused than angry or upset, so Elle took it as a good sign.

“I did,” Elle confirmed.

“That’s good,” Henry said pleasantly. “We’ve drafted a response to all the attention you’ve been getting. It’s just a small little paragraph, nothing major.”

“Okay?”

“It’s basically along the lines of you’re a goddamn adult and he’s also an adult so you can do whatever the hell you want,” Henry hummed. “But next time you’ve got a bomb like that can you give us a heads up before you drop it?”

“I plan on no more bombs,” Elle promised.

“Sure,” Henry snorted. “We’ve known since the day you were drafted that you’re an explosion waiting for a place to happen.”

“Untrue,” Elle protested.

“Need I send a link of your draft interview to remind you of the statement we had to release on _day one_ of you being a Flyer?”

“…No.”

“I thought so,” Henry said triumphantly. “I’m sending the statement to you, and once you’ve text me back with the go ahead, we’ll post it.”

“Okay. Thanks you.”

“Anytime. Have a good day, Elle.”

She scrolled through her texts next, and most of them from her teammates were varying degrees of heartwarming and annoying.

Liam sent a text that might as well have been a novel with the evidence he had compiled over the season, claiming that he had known all along and that Johan owed him a beer (to which Elle had hastily texted back that Johan owed him no alcohol at all because _you’re both underage in America you_ _morons_ ). Patty sent her a text rambling on about how her father (read: Travis) was going to have a stroke when he heard the news ( _he knew about gavin_ , she sent back, to which he responded, _huh, i’m surprised he isn’t a fuckin narc cuz i had no clue until now_ ). Provy sent her a text promising to be a little nicer to Gavin on the ice ( _But only a little. Can’t have them thinking we’re going easy on them now_ ). There was also a cryptic message from Hartsy that might have been an offer to help her hide the body if Gavin should ever do anything less than gentlemanly, but Elle could never really be sure of goalies even though she herself was one.

The Girl Power Chaos Squad group chat was blowing up rather spectacularly.

_Allie  
Wtf Queenie?????_

_Breezy_   
_YEAH WTF QUEENIE WHY ARE YOU TRENDING AGAIN?_   
_Why is GAVIN DALEY tagged in so many of these?_

_Allie  
Since when are you dating the enemy?_

_Breezy_   
_To be fair she’s friends with us and we’re the enemy  
Especially you, Al_

_Allie_   
_Yeah but we’re bonded by the power of our uteruses_

_Breezy_   
_Uteruses before duderuses_   
  
_Nat_   
_what kind of english is that???_

_Breezy_   
_The worst kind :D_   
  
_Allie_   
_and also im not officially a penguin yet_   
_and ALSO im not dating queenie???_

_Breezy_   
_Lowkey hoping this is all some romcom where queenie started out spying on the enemy before figuring out oh no he’s hot and suddenly they’re a thing but alas their teams would never approve_   
_this is the shit im here for_   
_I want romeo and juliet levels of drama pls and thanks_

_Elle_   
_y’all are WILD_

_Nat_   
_Queenie!!!_   
_how is spying on enemy going? ;)_

_Elle_   
_alas i am not a spy_   
_but surprise im dating gavin daley its official_

_Breezy_   
_Oh great it’s official_   
_well_   
_can I officially kick your ass for not telling us immediately??_

_Nat  
violence really isn’t needed_

_Allie  
You knew, didn’t you_

_Nat  
….Yeah a little_

_Breezy  
WHAT_

_Elle  
I asked for advice and it kind of just happened?? Anyway we literally just talked about being official. It took me remembering that he literally has a toothbrush in my bathroom for me to realize we’re a thing_

_Breezy  
bruh only your dumbass would be dating someone without even realizing it_

_Allie  
smh_

_Elle  
RUDE I’m not dumb >:(_

_Allie  
A little dumb. Just a little._

_Breezy  
Don’t lie to her she is a whole lot of dumb_

_Nat  
that was worse than my english _

_Elle  
y’all are wild I cant deal with it_

_Allie_   
_Stfu you love us_   
_and we love you too sooooo_

_Breezy  
I mean yeah I guess I love you too even though you didn’t tell me youre dating Gavin Daley who is very very pretty btw_

_Nat  
Looks not everything_

_Allie_   
_She’s right though he is *chefs kiss*_   
_oh boy oh boy I cant wait to harass him during training camp next year_

_Elle  
Oh no_

_Breezy  
OH YES HAHA_

_Elle  
I’m disowning you all and muting this chat forever_

_Allie  
You wouldn’t dare_

_Breezy  
Bruh she thrives on spite don’t say that shit_

_Nat  
I need more European friends, you all are too much _

_Elle  
Shush you love us too and you know it_

_Nat  
true but love not mean LIKE_

_Breezy  
RUDE_

_Elle_   
_GOODNIGHT YOU BUFFOONS_   
_Ps good luck on your game tomorrow Nat!!_

* * *

The Penguins lost in overtime in game 6. It was an away game, so Elle watched it from her couch, her heart squeezing painfully in her ribs as she watched Gavin glide mindlessly across the ice with his head down after the final goal horn.

She pulled out her phone and tried to find something to say. She couldn’t really think of anything, though.

Theo sighed dramatically. The Phantoms had been out of the playoffs for the last week, so he had come to hang out with her for a few days before they headed off in their separate directions for the summer.

His critical eye tracked her unsure shuffling of her phone from across the couch where he sat in his pajamas. “Just call him, babe.”

After the Flyers had lost Gavin hadn’t said a word to her and given her the space to be upset, but that was what worked best for her and what she had needed at the time. Elle had no idea how she should approach his loss. Would he even _want_ to hear from her?

“What if he doesn’t want to talk to me?”

“If he’s as awesome as you say he is, I bet he wouldn’t mind,” Theo pointed out.

She sat there for a while just chewing nervously on her thumb nail, but she didn’t have long to worry because her phone range with an incoming call from Gavin just ten minutes later.

“Hi,” she said hesitantly. Theo mumbled some excuse about needing to pee and scurried off to the bathroom.

“Hey.” Gavin didn’t sound particularly upset, but he did sound very tired, practically half-mumbling when he spoke.

“I’m sorry,” Elle said. “I don’t really know what to say to make it better for you.”

“Nothing really to say,” Gavin said. “I’ve been here before, you know? Losing in the playoffs hits different, but instead of wallowing in all that _woe is me_ stuff I figured I could just call and you would snap me right out of it.”

“You played a good game, Gav,” she murmured. “I mean that.”

“Thanks,” he said. “And thanks for answering. I know it’s kinda late, but I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

“It’s fine,” Elle said. “I was up watching the game anyway, and it’s not like I have anywhere to be tomorrow.”

“Same here,” Gavin mused. “Well, I mean, we’ll be getting back to Pittsburgh but it’s not like I have practice or anything.”

“Yeah,” Elle said quietly. “Hey, when you get back, why don’t you come over? I want to introduce you to Theo.” Hastily, she tacked on, “If you’re up to it, of course. If you need space I get it.”

“No, no, I’d love to,” Gavin hurried to reassure her. “I don’t know when I’ll be done tomorrow, though.”

“That’s fine,” Elle said. “Take whatever time you need.”

“Okay,” Gavin hummed, and he sounded much more awake now. “I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Gavin.”

Theo’s head poked out from behind the bathroom door. “All good?”

“Yeah,” Elle said. “He might come by tomorrow.”

“Cool, I can threaten him in person.”

Elle glared.

“Kidding, totally kidding,” Theo promised unconvincingly.

Elle glared harder, and Theo rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, you can take care of yourself, I get it,” Theo said. “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t destroy him if—”

“ _Oh my god_ you’re so embarrassing, please don’t threaten him.”

“I would never.”

“ _Theo_.”

“I have no need,” Theo protested. “We all know it’s not me he needs to fear anyway. I’m in the AHL, not the big leagues.”

“Somehow if you wanted to fight someone I doubt not being on the ice would hold you back.”

“Oh of course not,” Theo snorted. “But I’m capable of being calm.”

Elle rolled her eyes and adjusted her blanket. “He doesn’t like _Friends_. We should probably binge it while we still can.”

“He doesn’t like _Friends_?” Theo gasped. “Never mind, I really _will_ have to fight this man.”

“No fighting.”

“Just a little bit of fighting.”

“No.”

“But yes.”

Theo cackled even around the pillow Elle shoved in his face.

* * *

Gavin showed up the next afternoon with an overnight bag in hand.

“Hey,” he said when Elle opened the door.

“Hi,” Elle grinned.

Theo appeared right behind her. “Why do you hate _Friends_?”

Gavin blinked. “Hate what?”

Elle resisted the urge to groan. “Let the man come in, gosh.”

Gavin set his bag down in the front entry just as Elle was closing the door, and Theo was rounding on him again. “The TV show. _Friends_. Best thing to come out of the 90’s.”

Gavin wrinkled his nose. “Not the _best_ thing—”

“Oh boy.” Elle really did groan that time.

“ _What_?” Theo looked absolutely repulsed.

“ _Okay_ ,” Elle said loudly. “Theo, this is Gavin. Gavin, this is Theo.”

“So you’re the best friend,” Gavin said, offering his hand to shake.

Theo took it with the most suspicious narrowing of his eyes he could muster. “And that means you’re the boyfriend,” he replied in nearly the same tone.

Elle wondered if she had just made the worst decision of her entire life.

* * *

A few short hours later, it was confirmed. Elle was doomed, but not necessarily in a bad way. So far her boyfriend and her best friend had made plans to hang out the next time any of their teams were even remotely in the same area, and suddenly they were friends/following each other on all main forms of social media. Even Snapchat, Elle was amused to find out.

“Dude if you really like sushi that much you’ve _got_ to try this place—”

“Have you tried rolled ice cream? That stuff is—”

Elle rolled her eyes and turned _Greys Anatomy_ up just a little louder.

“Elle, we have to take Theo to that cookie dough place next season,” Gavin said.

“The one with the really good sugar cookie dough?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Okay,” Elle agreed.

Maybe she hadn’t wanted this to be what she was doing on a warm April day while playoffs were going to continue on elsewhere, but she couldn’t quite find it in herself to be all that upset about it.

If her rookie season had to end beside her best friend and her boyfriend talking about sushi and cookie dough and ice cream, then it really wasn’t that bad of a season after all.


End file.
